VOASE0124_The Making of a Nation

24 January 2007

Dewey Defeats Truman in 1948. Oops, Make It Truman Defeats Dewey
Political experts were sure the president would lose to Thomas Dewey, but Harry Truman campaigned fiercely to prove everyone wrong.

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

(MUSIC)

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 TWO:

President Harry Truman holds up Chicago Daily Tribune declaring "Dewey Defeats Truman," based on early results

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 Harry Truman. Truman had been the party's successful vice 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 labor. 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 ONE:

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 Soviet Union. And he began to speak out with much more strength to the American people.

VOICE TWO:

Truman succeeded in winning the presidential nomination 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 campaign sign

Dewey was a wise and courageous 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 Democrats and rich Republicans.

VOICE ONE:

Two other men also were candidates for the presidency. 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 TWO:

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 ONE:

"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 standing there in front of them and talking to them, the people can tell whether you are telling them the facts or not."

VOICE TWO:

Truman at the back of a train as he begins his 1948 presidential campaign tour

Truman campaigned with great energy. He made hundreds of speeches as his train moved across the country. He spoke 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 ONE:

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 acting 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 TWO:

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 ONE:

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 TWO:

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 ONE:

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 aggression from North Korea. He would join other Western leaders in establishing a new alliance, NATO, to provide for the joint defense 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 TWO:

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.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

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.

VOASE0124_Explorations

23 January 2007

Older People Go Back to College to Learn New Things, Get Fresh Start
Part three in a series.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

Donald Vitkus, a longtime factory worker, decided to seek a degree in human services at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts, after losing his job

Like more than 80,000 "nontraditional" students in the US, Emma Ferguson decided to return to school full time to earn a bachelor's degree. The 50-year-old grandmother walks to class as a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

And I'm Steve Ember with Explorations in VOA Special English. We continue the series about how older Americans are keeping their minds active. Today we tell about some of the adult education programs offered by colleges and universities.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Martin Feldman was a chemistry professor for forty years. He retired from Howard University in Washington, D.C. about five years ago. Mister Feldman says when he retired he thought he would like to do something he had not done before. Yet, he says, he was not really interested in spending a lot of time as a student in a classroom, writing papers and taking tests.

One day Mister Feldman found a list of classes offered at Montgomery College near his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. The college lets people sixty years and older who live in Montgomery County take classes. They do not have to pay the normal tuition cost, just the cost of supplies.

Mister Feldman decided to try a sculpture class. It teaches students how to make art out of clay, wood, metal and plastic. And it meets only one day a week.

VOICE TWO:

Martin Feldman says he quickly decided he really liked sculpture. So he has continued with the class, experimenting with combining different materials and shapes.

About half of the members of the sculpture class are older adults who live in the area. They take the class for no college credit. The other students are college age. They are taking the class for credit to get a degree and are paying tuition to take it.

VOICE ONE:

Martin Feldman is also taking a class at a private school of art and design as a regular student. His artwork had to be judged good enough for him to be accepted in the class. And he has to pay the full cost.

Mister Feldman is happy he was able to try something completely new when he retired. He has decided to spend a month at an art school in San Miguel Allende, Mexico. He will try something else new while he is there – learning to make sculpture by welding metal.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Most big universities have continuing education programs that offer traditional classes for older adults who want to continue learning. Some provide training programs that give people who complete them a certificate to prove they have gained new skills. The cost for university classes can be high, even for continuing education students.

Many smaller colleges offer traditional classes at lower cost and provide other programs for older adults in their area who have different educational needs. Prince George’s Community College in Maryland is one of them.

Camille Crawford is head of a program called Seasoned Adults Growing Educationally, or SAGE, at Prince George’s Community College. It is part of the Workforce Development and Continuing Education division of the college. The program is thirty years old.

VOICE ONE:

Miz Crawford says SAGE offers more than four hundred classes every four months. The classes are held in about sixty places all around Prince George’s County. About five thousand older adults are taking classes at any one time. They do not have to travel to the college. They can take classes near where they live.

People can take SAGE classes in community centers, retirement communities and religious centers. The cost is very low. For fifty dollars, people over sixty who live in Prince George’s County can take as many classes as they want in a four-month period.

VOICE TWO:

SAGE offers classes in art, computers, finance, heath, history, languages and music. Professors who teach at Prince George’s Community College also teach the SAGE classes. One professor told Miz Crawford that when he started teaching a SAGE class he realized again why he became a teacher. He said the older adults were a joy to teach. They were in the class because they wanted to learn, not because they had to be there to get a college degree.

Miz Crawford says some of the SAGE students never finished high school so they would not have been admitted to most colleges. SAGE classes are open to everyone. Adults who never thought they would have a chance to take college level classes are able to do so in the SAGE program.

VOICE ONE:

Camille Crawford says many of the college’s continuing education classes are related to work. Some of the older adults in the area need to keep working to earn money, even if they have retired from their jobs. So the Workforce and Continuing Education division of Prince George’s Community College has programs to help provide new job skills for older adults. Some of these people moved to the area from another country and do not have the skills needed for jobs in the United States.

Prince George’s County Department of Family Services identifies the people who should be given training for a job. The college provides free training and placement in an internship program with a non-profit organization or a government agency. The adult students are paid a minimum wage while they are in training. The federal government helps support the program.

VOICE TWO:

Camille Crawford says that one of the first questions asked of anyone seeking a job today is: “What computer skills do you have?” So the Workforce and Continuing Education division of Prince George’s Community College combines job preparation skills with computer training. Those who successfully finish the program receive certificates to prove they are trained to work in an office.

Miz Crawford says the training and continuing education programs have provided older adults with new skills. Many who are now working part time feel they are doing something meaningful in their retirement years.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The University Continuing Education Association is the oldest organization in the United States of continuing education programs in colleges and universities. It began in nineteen fifteen. The organization now has about four hundred fifty members. These college and universities are in most of the American states and in about thirty countries from Australia to Kuwait.

VOICE TWO:

Timothy Sloate is director of research for the University Continuing Education Association. He says studies have shown that many baby boomers plan to keep working at least part time after they retire. Baby boomers are the large group of Americans born between nineteen forty-six and nineteen sixty-four. The oldest members of the group are just turning sixty and thinking of retiring from their jobs.

Mister Sloate says many baby boomers are planning to learn new things in retirement. Others, he says, are looking for job training. They want to learn new skills to use when they are retired.

Timothy Sloate says the members of the University Continuing Education Association are expanding their learning in retirement programs. One way is through the growth of classes that are offered online. These online classes let adults far from the college or university take a class through their computers in their homes.

VOICE ONE:

The University Continuing Education Association organizes about fifteen conferences a year for its members in different areas of the country. It provides a monthly newsletter. It does research that helps members develop new programs. And it offers professional development for continuing education administrators.

In November, two thousand six, the University Continuing Education Association held a unity conference with the China Continuing Education Association at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Thirty officials from major American universities and thirty from Chinese universities shared common problems and solutions. One educator from China and one from the United States discussed the continuing education situation in their countries at each meeting during the two days of the conference. They talked about a single subject such as new developments in online teaching for adults or changes in the market for continuing education.

Organizers are planning to hold an American and Chinese continuing education conference each year. The next one will be held later this year at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Marilyn Christiano. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. You can read other programs in this continuing education series on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

VOASE0124_Education Report

24 January 2007

Higher Education in the US: Life as a Teaching Assistant
Many states are trying to make sure that foreign TAs can speak English well enough to communicate with students.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Graduate students often work as teaching assistants while they study in the United States. Teaching assistants may get money or get to take classes for free, or both.

A T.A. usually works about twenty hours each week. In some cases, the professors they assist have big undergraduate classes with hundreds of students. The professor gives one or two lectures a week, and teaching assistants lead smaller discussions at other times.

They also give tests, grade work, provide laboratory assistance and meet with students who need help. And they have their own educations to think about.

Labor unions have been working to organize teaching assistants who feel overworked and underpaid. Some schools have had strikes.

Another issue is the language barrier. Many states have proposed to require that teaching assistants be able to speak English well enough for students to understand them. Universities have increased their efforts to deal with this problem.

Our example school this week is the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. The Institute of International Education says more foreign students go to USC than any other American university.

The American Language Institute at USC provides training to help international teaching assistants improve their English. The university requires most non-native English speakers to pass a test before they can become a T.A.

Those who went to college in an English-speaking country do not have to take the test. The same is true for those who scored at least twenty-seven on the speaking part of the TOEFL Internet-based test.

The exam at USC is a fifteen-minute spoken test that involves two examiners. Students talk about their education and interest in the school. Then they present some issue or idea from their area of study, and answer questions about it from the examiners.

Those who do not score high enough on the test have to take classes to improve their English. Until their English is better, some departments give them jobs that do not require them to communicate with students.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Listen next week for the next part in our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States.

MP3 files and transcripts of the series are at voaspecialenglish.com. If you have a question or comment, write to special@voanews.com, and be sure to include your name and country. I'm Bob Doughty.