I Was the First to Know that Truman Won!

The first election I remember is 1948. I can only presume I knew a little about it before election night. I must have heard about it on the radio and must have seen pictures of the candidates on the front pages of the morning St. Paul Pioneer Press and evening St. Paul Dispatch. (I was in kindergarten and I would not learn to read until first grade.) I also probably heard my parents talk about the election. However, the only real memory I have is of being by the front door of our Van Buren house when my parents returned from voting.

My older sisters were as excited as I when my parents came in out of the dark night after having voted a block and a half away at Wilson High School. The excitement was such that we pinned them next to the wall just inside the door and didn't let them get their coat and jacket off before they answered our questions. I do not remember exactly what my sisters asked. I'm sure they covered the basics about whether there were a lot of people there, who my parents had voted for, and whether the voting was over. There had been a lot of people; Pete and Leona had indeed voted for Harry S. Truman, and the voting was indeed over. Nobody voiced what I knew to be the most important question, so I spoke up and asked it: "Who won?" I remember my dad's big smile and a little laugh as he said, "Truman won!"

It was months, more likely years, later when I realized my memory of the election was different from that of everyone else in the country. Everybody else went to bed that night not knowing who would be president. They did not find out until the next day.

I  had gone to bed shortly after my parents got home from voting. I went to bed quite pleased to know that the man my parents had voted for had won the election. My dad, after all, had told me Truman won. I knew that he knew because he and Mom had been there. 

As pleased as I was to know that my parents had voted for the winner, I was far more pleased about something else. While I did not then know much about the geography of our country, I did know it was very big. I knew better the geography of my neighborhood. I passed Wilson High School, for example, at least twice a day walking to and from kindergarten at St. Columba School. What most pleased me that night and made me most proud as I eased my way toward sleep was the fact that, among all the places in this big country that they could have held an election, they had chosen to elect our president at the high school near my home. 

When my parents came in from voting and spoke about their experience, I pictured them in a huge crowd of people. When somebody asked the crowd, "Who votes for Harry S. Truman?", they and many others raised their hands. And, since they had not left Wilson High School until the vote was over, my dad could laugh, smile and tell me, "Truman won!" I am sure I went to sleep with my own, broad smile--pleased and proud to live in the neighborhood where the country elected its president in 1948.  

 

 

(c) from date of posting, by Bob Komives, Fort Collins