The election year of 1948 remains to this day one of the most astonishing in U.S. political history. During this first general election after World War II, Americans looked to their governments for change. As the battle for the nation’s highest office came to a head in Illinois, the state was embroiled in its own partisan showdowns—elections that would prove critical in the course of state and national history.

In Battleground 1948, Robert E. Hartley offers the first comprehensive chronicle of this historic election year and its consequences, which still resonate today. Focusing on the races that ushered Adlai Stevenson, Paul Douglas, and Harry Truman into office—the last by the slimmest of margins—Battleground 1948 details the pivotal events that played out in the state of Illinois, from the newspaper wars in Chicago to tragedy in the mine at Centralia.

In addition to in-depth revelations on the saga of the American election machine in 1948, Hartley probes the dark underbelly of Illinois politics in the 1930s and 1940s to set the stage, spotlight key party players, and expose the behind-the-scenes influences of media, money, corruption, and crime. In doing so, he draws powerful parallels between the politics of the past and those of the present. Above all, Battleground 1948 tells the story of grassroots change writ large on the American political landscape—change that helped a nation move past an era of conflict and depression, and forever transformed Illinois and the U.S. government.

Robert E. Hartley is the author of a number of books for Southern Illinois University Press, including Paul Powell of Illinois: A Lifelong Democrat and Paul Simon: The Political Journey of an Illinois Original. He was a journalist for Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers in Illinois from 1962 to 1979 and served as executive editor of the Toledo Blade and as publisher of the Journal-American in Bellevue, Washington.

Given our state’s convoluted, complex, and at times outright Byzantine political history, tagging any election as the “most surprising” sets up great expectations in a reader’s mind. Robert E. Hartley, the former editor of the late, lamented Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc., which operated dailies in Decatur, Carbondale, Urbana and East St. Louis, more than fulfills that standard.

A smooth writer who melds significant facts into flowing prose, Hartley examines a significant election for the nation – and the state. Those recalling the 1948 contest likely associate it more with President Harry Truman’s upset victory over the complacent favorite, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, perhaps noting as a side effect the victories of Adlai E. Stevenson II for governor and Paul Douglas for U.S. senator. This book, however, will put the horses – Stevenson and Douglas – in their proper place, ahead of and pulling Truman in the cart.

Behind the victories of the whistle-stop campaign Truman and the good government (“goo-goos,” as the old Daley Machine might say) Stevenson and Douglas, was an almost unbelievable series of scandals, political miscalculations and resulting newspaper outrage that buried the powerful incumbent governor, Dwight Green, and the Chicago Tribune-controlled U.S. senator, Curly Brooks, beneath a mountain of voter outrage.

The roots of the electoral landslide can be found, as Hartley convincingly demonstrates, in a series of events beginning with the 1947 Centralia Mine Disaster (the topic of another Hartley book) that tragically revealed the blatant politicization and unconcern with safety in the state’s Department of Mines and Minerals. Green, a popular two-term incumbent who hungered for the vice-presidential nomination, issued the appropriate platitudes and avoided any serious action to address those problems, yet still seemed a likely victor over Stevenson.

Hartley, using the papers and memoirs of Illinois political leaders of the time, retells the familiar story of the state Democratic Party’s unlikely selection of Stevenson and Douglas as its standard bearers. Stevenson, distant and distracted at times, seemed little competition for the experienced Green. Douglas, an energetic and effective campaigner but underfunded, appeared to pose little threat to the bombastic Brooks who had already won two elections for his seat and counted on the undying support of Colonel Robert McCormick’s isolationist, New Deal-hating Tribune that reached into nearly every crossroads and corner of the state.

And then a gunshot changed it all. There is not enough room here to describe fully the chain of events cascading from the assassination in Peoria of Bernie Shelton, the notorious head of a Downstate gambling and prostitution empire. Plus, Hartley’s exploration of that process is worth more than the price of the book. It is a pleasure best left for a reader to enjoy.

Suffice it to say that Shelton’s death revealed a shocking pattern of payoffs and shakedowns orchestrated by Green’s administration and local and county officials to protect illegal activities in return for large cash contributions. Leading the charge in exposing this network, which almost makes today’s “pay-to-play” climate look benign in comparison, was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper and its ace crime reporter, Theodore C. Link.

Nearly every day from August to November, the Post-Dispatch hammered Green and his administration, labeled the “Green Machine,” with exposé after exposé. Desperate to stem the barrage by discrediting the source, Green and his attorney general engineered the indictment of reporter Link by a Peoria grand jury. For Illinois voters that was, as they say, the last straw.

Hartley’s book provides all sorts of treats and insights in telling this story. They range from the role of newspapers in what would be their last hurrah of political effectiveness, to the peculiar nature of Adlai Stevenson as a candidate, to the inanities of Brooks who surely will continue to rank among the most embarrassing and least effective men and women to represent Illinois in Washington, to the rise of Paul Powell and his origins in a southern Illinois gang of freebooters and spoilsmen who played an important and decisive role in the 1948 campaign.

Retired from public relations, a field he entered after leaving the newspaper business, Hartley has profitably devoted the past two decades to producing one significant book after another on Illinois history. His biographies of Powell and Paul Simon are must-reads for anyone seeking to understand the bad and the good of 20th century political life in our state. His latest book adds to an already distinguished body of work.

Robert D. Sampson is an instructor of history at Millikin University, a former reporter and local elected official in Macon County.

Given our state’s convoluted, complex, and at times outright Byzantine political history, tagging any election as the “most surprising” sets up great expectations in a reader’s mind. Robert E. Hartley, the former editor of the late, lamented Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc., which operated dailies in Decatur, Carbondale, Urbana and East St. Louis, more than fulfills that standard.

A smooth writer who melds significant facts into flowing prose, Hartley examines a significant election for the nation – and the state. Those recalling the 1948 contest likely associate it more with President Harry Truman’s upset victory over the complacent favorite, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, perhaps noting as a side effect the victories of Adlai E. Stevenson II for governor and Paul Douglas for U.S. senator. This book, however, will put the horses – Stevenson and Douglas – in their proper place, ahead of and pulling Truman in the cart.

Behind the victories of the whistle-stop campaign Truman and the good government (“goo-goos,” as the old Daley Machine might say) Stevenson and Douglas, was an almost unbelievable series of scandals, political miscalculations and resulting newspaper outrage that buried the powerful incumbent governor, Dwight Green, and the Chicago Tribune-controlled U.S. senator, Curly Brooks, beneath a mountain of voter outrage.

The roots of the electoral landslide can be found, as Hartley convincingly demonstrates, in a series of events beginning with the 1947 Centralia Mine Disaster (the topic of another Hartley book) that tragically revealed the blatant politicization and unconcern with safety in the state’s Department of Mines and Minerals. Green, a popular two-term incumbent who hungered for the vice-presidential nomination, issued the appropriate platitudes and avoided any serious action to address those problems, yet still seemed a likely victor over Stevenson.

Hartley, using the papers and memoirs of Illinois political leaders of the time, retells the familiar story of the state Democratic Party’s unlikely selection of Stevenson and Douglas as its standard bearers. Stevenson, distant and distracted at times, seemed little competition for the experienced Green. Douglas, an energetic and effective campaigner but underfunded, appeared to pose little threat to the bombastic Brooks who had already won two elections for his seat and counted on the undying support of Colonel Robert McCormick’s isolationist, New Deal-hating Tribune that reached into nearly every crossroads and corner of the state.

And then a gunshot changed it all. There is not enough room here to describe fully the chain of events cascading from the assassination in Peoria of Bernie Shelton, the notorious head of a Downstate gambling and prostitution empire. Plus, Hartley’s exploration of that process is worth more than the price of the book. It is a pleasure best left for a reader to enjoy.

Suffice it to say that Shelton’s death revealed a shocking pattern of payoffs and shakedowns orchestrated by Green’s administration and local and county officials to protect illegal activities in return for large cash contributions. Leading the charge in exposing this network, which almost makes today’s “pay-to-play” climate look benign in comparison, was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper and its ace crime reporter, Theodore C. Link.

Nearly every day from August to November, the Post-Dispatch hammered Green and his administration, labeled the “Green Machine,” with exposé after exposé. Desperate to stem the barrage by discrediting the source, Green and his attorney general engineered the indictment of reporter Link by a Peoria grand jury. For Illinois voters that was, as they say, the last straw.

Hartley’s book provides all sorts of treats and insights in telling this story. They range from the role of newspapers in what would be their last hurrah of political effectiveness, to the peculiar nature of Adlai Stevenson as a candidate, to the inanities of Brooks who surely will continue to rank among the most embarrassing and least effective men and women to represent Illinois in Washington, to the rise of Paul Powell and his origins in a southern Illinois gang of freebooters and spoilsmen who played an important and decisive role in the 1948 campaign.

Retired from public relations, a field he entered after leaving the newspaper business, Hartley has profitably devoted the past two decades to producing one significant book after another on Illinois history. His biographies of Powell and Paul Simon are must-reads for anyone seeking to understand the bad and the good of 20th century political life in our state. His latest book adds to an already distinguished body of work.

Robert D. Sampson is an instructor of history at Millikin University, a former reporter and local elected official in Macon County.

“Battleground 1948 tells the exciting story of thefinal performance of Jake Arvey as Illinois Democratic boss, who picks a well-balanced ticket to save Harry S. Truman as President of the United States. It brings to the scene Adlai Stevenson, twice our candidate for president, in 1952 and 1956, and tells the story of Paul Douglas, a three-term U.S. senator from Illinois, voted ‘best senator’ by the national press. The tale includes several terrible Illinois coal mine disasters and the shenanigans of the Shelton Gang. Even Paul Powell and John Stelle have their moments. You should not miss this one.”—Alan J. Dixon, former U.S. Senator from Illinois

“Few election years have been more exciting or pivotal in Illinois than 1948.  And nobody is better qualified than Robert Hartley to reveal the explosive currents that brought Adlai Ewing Stevenson and Paul Douglas to political prominence and helped ensure President Harry Truman’s triumph in the state. Battleground 1948 shows again that Bob remains a master at documenting chapters in Illinois history that never should be forgotten.”—Taylor Pensoneau, Illinois author and political historian

“This is an easy-to-read analysis of 1948 national and state politics in the swing state of Illinois. All the major players are covered as Hartley weaves a story of both political intrigue and hard-nosed electoral politics.”—Paul Green, director, Institute for Politics, Roosevelt University, Chicago

"Battleground 1948: Truman, Stevenson, Douglas and the Most Surprising Election in Illinois History is an in-depth examination of the first American general election since World War II, centering on Illinois politics.  This was the race destined to put Adlai Stevenson, Paul Douglas, and Harry Truman into office, with Truman winning by a sliver.  A month-by-month chronicle of key events in the 1948 election season, as well as an era snapshot of Illinois politics (including the dark influences of media, corruption, and crime) make Battleground 1948 a welcome addition to American History and Political Science shelves."--The Midwest Book Review

“Given our state’s convoluted, complex, and at times outright Byzantine political history, tagging any election as the 'most surprising' sets up great expectations in a reader’s mind. Robert E. Hartley . . . more than fulfills that standard. A smooth writer who melds significant facts into flowing prose, Hartley examines a significant election for the nation – and the state . . . [and] provides all sorts of treats and insights in telling this story.”—Illinois Times