In the first election after World War II, incumbent President Harry S. Truman (who took office on April 12, 1945, upon the death of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the Democratic Party suffered large losses.

[3][4] This Republican wave reflected the public backlash against President Truman for the post-war economic hardships the country suffered, straining American-Soviet relations, and his handling of the United Auto Workers strike.

Nixon campaigned on such issues as price controls, housing, and labor-management relations, but gained his greatest publicity from attacks on Voorhis left-wing associations and policies.

His 1946 Pulitzer Prize for editorials on racial and religious tolerance as editor of the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times had won him a national reputation.

[8] The election stymied Truman's efforts to enact his Fair Deal policies and helped ensure the passage of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947.