The third round of policy open debate on candidates for presidential elections in 1944 was originally scheduled to be held in late August, but due to sudden changes in South America, Truman proposed a postponement, and Dewey readily accepted it, which extended the postponement by one month.

By late September, the debate was finally about to be held, but for Truman it had lost its original meaning: he had originally expected the troops to fight a turnaround in the South American battlefield, so that not only would the war situation change, but his political future also would be improved. The delay result would be worse than expected. Don't read newspapers, the radio would be outnumbered all day long, and resist bravely.

He is very clear about the truth: the United States has suffered unprecedented defeats on the three battlefields of land, sea and air. Apart from the rockets or silent submarines owned by Germany, other battles have also been in a mess. As for being outnumbered, it doesn’t seem to be true to the real situation except that the navy may indeed be worse than Germany, the army’s strength and the army’s aviation strength have exceeded the German army. Moreover, the United States has been operating in Brazil for many years. Even if it can’t beat the German army, it shouldn’t be such a one-sided situation!

Dewey also knew these inside stories, but Truman knew that Dewey could not reveal this dark story, because Dewey was basically a foregone conclusion. In this situation, Dewey would not have to pursue and fight. If he breaks this rule, the opposition Democratic Party will not give him good results in the future.

Truman is Truman, and the Democratic Party is Democratic Party, these are two different things!

Although the focus of the third election was domestic social, economic and livelihood issues, the two candidates obviously had no intention of entangling these details. Everyone talked about it for a few rounds and directly shifted the focus to the war situation where voters paid more attention to.

"Mr. Truman, what do you think of our situation after this Brazilian battle?"

"Not to be aware, it's very bad. The German army invaded a large area of ​​Brazil's territory, not only splitting Brazil's territory and forming a colony, but also supporting a Brazilian puppet regime..."

“Who do you think should be responsible for this?”

"No doubt it's me!" Truman said in a deep voice, "I am the president of the United States and the supreme commander of the armed forces in the United States. I am fully responsible for the deterioration of the war. Our soldiers represented by General Patton and Major General Roosevelt have done their best. They have no responsibility, I am fully responsible!"

Dewey was stunned for a moment, and seemed to have not expected Truman to admit so readily. He hesitated for a while and did not pursue and attack. Instead, he asked a relatively gentle question: "How do you plan to improve and improve leadership policies in the next term so as to..."

"I have deeply reflected on the Battle of Brazil and even a series of other battles before the Battle of Brazil..." Truman said slowly, "Although we paid a great price and the soldiers of the entire army fought bravely, the overall situation of the Allied forces was deteriorating. After Britain and the Soviet Union were forced to withdraw from the war one after another, the United States was almost alone in supporting this war against aggression and defending democracy and freedom. The pressure is great, the challenges are great, and the difficulties are many, but I have never lost confidence. I believe that justice is on our side."

The audience listened to Truman continue to speak calmly.

"It is impossible for a person to pay a price and cannot bear responsibility if he does something wrong. Given the performance and overall strategy of the US team during this period, I am determined to bear all the responsibility. For this reason, I officially announced today..." Truman glanced at the audience and slowly and firmly said a word, "Retreat!"

The host and the audience were immediately confused, and the voters who were listening to the radio were also confused: One candidate quit the election?

Host Carter asked in a disbelief: "Mr. Truman, if I heard correctly, you just said you want to quit the election?"

"Yes, withdraw from the election. My partner and I will withdraw from the presidential election together and no longer seek re-election." Truman reiterated, "This is a very difficult decision. Before making this decision, I asked myself countless times, communicated with my campaign partners, my campaign members many times, and had formal communication with the Democratic Party. Although everyone felt sorry, they finally respected my decision.

So far, I want to say, sorry! I have let down my running mate, Vice Presidential candidate Mr. William Barkley; I have let down the Democratic National Conference deputies who nominated me as presidential candidate at the Party Congress; I have let down the members of the team who have always supported me; I have let down the voters and supporters who have always hoped that I can perform better and lead the country to victory…”

Speaking of this, Truman's voice choked. He walked to the center, bowed deeply to the crowd, and then returned to the speaker's seat. While wiping his glasses covered in tears, he continued: "As we all know, I am not the president elected by the referendum through the last presidential election. I was appointed Vice President after the Wallace incident by Mr. Roosevelt. Due to the sharp deterioration of his health, he unfortunately died of illness and succeeded me as President. This is a very rare political event in American history.

As for me, I have never participated in and invested in an election before. This is my first time in the election. Due to the difficulties faced by the country, I have to devote myself to political priorities. The voters I pay more attention to can see that since May, I have gone out to participate in the election very few times. Most of the time, Mr. Barkley and Mr. John Kennedy, deputy director of the election office, are promoting my political propositions for me. For me, it is very important to do everything in the presidency well, and many times it is more important to run for the election next year. The People of the United States will welcome a new president. Maybe it is me, maybe it is Mr. Dewey and someone else, and I, only me, but I have to be responsible for the present of America!”

These words won him sympathetic applause.

The audience suddenly recalled: President Truman took office in a state of emergency. The situation was no longer ideal when he became president. However, he did not shirk responsibility, nor did he argue for himself. Instead, he quickly admitted all the consequences and publicly announced his withdrawal from the election. This is a political leader who is responsible and does not aim at fighting for power and profit!

Dewey certainly knew that Truman wanted to gain some political capital for his future, but Truman admitted his reassurance and withdrew, which meant that he had almost won the election ahead of schedule. At this time, "taking advantage of the victory" would seem a bit despicable, so he said: "Thanks to President Truman for everything he did for us, and he did his best."

However, Truman quickly changed his subject and talked about other things: "In view of the recent situation and Mr. Dewey's usual propositions, I also highly agree with some of his views, such as the idea of ​​fully fighting against Japan with the European Union, etc., but I would like to take this opportunity today to emphasize three points:

First, our armistice negotiations with the EU group are not our surrender to Europe, but a political strategy based on a humanitarian and pacifist stance, otherwise we will be sorry for the vast allies who fought bloody battles;

Second, the armistice negotiations with the EU group should be carried out as soon as possible, but the political principles that the United States has always adhered to, such as ‘democracy and freedom’, ‘not invade or threaten by force’, ‘not one-sidedly change the political situation, ‘not seeking regional hegemony and political ambitions’, ‘respecting all countries in the Americas’, etc. should be maintained, and the voice of ‘Monroe’ should be reiterated that we cannot give up and betray the American countries that have been closely linked with us for more than a hundred years;

Third, the armistice negotiations need to achieve no compensation, no cede land, respect each other's sovereignty, and release prisoners of war as soon as possible..."

Everyone nodded. Truman said in general the principles were good. Even if Dewey came forward, he could not say that I would deviate from this requirement.

But Truman's next sentence caught people off guard: "Considering the huge advantages that Mr. Dewey has after I withdrew from the election, although he was not the next president of the United States before the voters and the civic group voted, I think he is very close to this goal. In order to give Mr. Dewey more and earlier opportunities to familiarize himself with the political situation and participate in national decision-making, I will nominate Mr. Dewey as a special ambassador before he was sworn in as president, and fully in the armistice negotiations with EU countries so that all work can be put on track as soon as possible. Dear voters and listeners, if you are willing to support Mr. Dewey and be willing to let him play some of the president's powers in advance, please welcome him with warm applause!"

Truman was the first to applaud, then thunderous applause rang out, and all the eyes of the audience were on Dewey.

The latter is as uncomfortable as eating a fly. Of course, he knows that Truman has bad intentions to arrange this errand, but he cannot refuse. No matter what reason he is, isn't you proposing peace against Germany? How can you be responsible for peace against Germany? You are unwilling to be willing to do so?

"I think the debate ahead has lost its meaning. Let me give the microphone to Mr. Dewey, and we listen to him explain his future governance philosophy and political decisions... I will learn from him in depth, accumulate more experience, and make a comeback in the next presidential election!"

After saying that, he handed over both microphones to Dewey, shook hands with Dewey enthusiastically, hugged her, and said to the audience: "I hope President Dewey will lead the United States of America and all people to create a new and different situation!" Then he went on silently.

Dewey smiled bitterly, but he had to cheer up. He first expressed his gratitude to Truman for his “appointment”, to Truman’s work, and to the audience…

The debate ended at 10:30 with Dewey's stand-up crosstalk.
Chapter completed!