Sometimes having great crime fighting records is not enough to gain a nomination. This was seen in the election of 1940 with Thomas Dewey and in 2008 with Rudy Giuliani.
Thomas Dewey ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1940 and gained notoriety and esteem from his past experience as a district attorney and in later years, as governor of New York. His successful background included his career as a special prosecutor in which he led prosecutions of many infamous mob members and was called a ‘gangbuster’ for breaking up organized crime. Dewey’s get-tough on crime approach appealed to Americans who wanted a no-nonsense, tough leader.
Thomas Dewey and Rudy Giuliani have extremely similar backgrounds. Giuliani held various positions within the Justice department, he had been Chief of the Narcotics unit in New York City and Associate Attorney General. Giuliani was later named US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, “where he spearheaded the effort to jail drug dealers, fight organized crime, break the web of corruption in government and prosecute white-collar criminals” (Biography). NYC.gov lists his record of 4152 convictions with only 25 reversals. His impressive background helped him win the position of Mayor of New York City in 1993 and re-election in 1997.
Despite their popularity in New York City as being gangbusters and tough on crime, they ultimately did not have enough support to gain the presidential nominations.
Sources: Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, nyc.gov.
Thomas Dewey Biography, nps.gov
-Diana Davino
