As the returns rolled in on election night, Truman took a narrow lead, but political commentators still believed that Dewey would ultimately win. Emblematic of this was the Chicago Daily Tribune's decision to distribute a paper with the famous headline Dewey Defeats Truman. The Tribune was not alone that night in its error. NBC radio commentator H.V. Kaltenborn reported, Mr. Truman is still ahead, but these are returns from a few cities. When the returns come in from the country the result will show Dewey winning overwhelmingly. Truman would soon go to bed, convinced that he would win. In the early hours of the morning, Truman was awakened to hear that he led by two million votes but that Kaltenborn was still claiming that Truman would not win. By mid-morning Dewey had sent a telegram to Truman conceding the election. Dewey, clearly dumbfounded, said in a news conference on November 3, I was just as surprised as you are.
When the final votes were tallied, Truman had won by a comfortable margin, capturing 49.4 percent of the vote to Dewey's 45.0 percent. In the electoral college Truman amassed 303 votes by winning 28 states, while Dewey captured 189 electoral votes by winning 16 states. Thurmond drew the votes of only 2.4 percent of the public, though he garnered more than one million votes; because his supporters were concentrated heavily in the South, he was able to win four states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina) and 39 electoral votes (one Tennessee elector cast his electoral vote for Thurmond rather than Truman, the state's winner). Wallace won only 13,000 fewer popular votes than Thurmond, but with diffuse support he came close to winning no state.