Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican presidential nominee in 1948, is a friend of Marquis publisher Wheeler Sammons Jr., who is known to have a hearty sense of humor. As the election nears, all the polls indicate that Dewey has a solid lead over current President Harry S. Truman. The Chicago Tribune is so sure that Dewey will prevail that on election night, they run a headline, DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, but by the following morning, it is clear that Truman has won re-election. In response, Sammons runs a special biographical sketch of Thomas Dewey, binds it into a single copy of Who’s Who in America, and sends the book to Dewey.

The heading of the biography reads, “DEWEY, Thomas Edmund, President of the United States.” No records exist of Dewey’s reaction, if any, to this prank.