Jaeckle also sometimes played kingmaker; for instance, he selected New York City District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey as the Republican candidate for the New York governorship. Dewey won the race and served three terms as governor; Jaeckle is credited with helping lift him onto the national stage. Dewey later lost two unsuccessful campaigns for the White House in the 1940s. Jaeckle was Dewey's campaign chairman during his first presidential run. "'I was not Dewey's man,' Mr. Jaeckle recalled in an interview. 'Nor was he mine. Events brought us together. We were a strong combination. There was mutual respect. I was like a trainer with a good horse.'"