1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee

Summary

The 1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 12[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee

← 1944 November 2, 1948[1] 1952 →
 
Nominee Harry S. Truman Thomas E. Dewey Strom Thurmond
Party Democratic Republican Dixiecrat
Home state Missouri New York South Carolina
Running mate Alben W. Barkley Earl Warren Fielding L. Wright
Electoral vote 11 0 1
Popular vote 270,402 202,914 73,815
Percentage 49.14% 36.87% 13.41%

County Results

President before election

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

Elected President

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

For over a century after the Civil War, Tennessee was divided according to political loyalties established in that war. Unionist regions covering almost all of East Tennessee, Kentucky Pennyroyal-allied Macon County, and the five Western Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne[3] voted Republican — generally by landslide margins — as they saw the Democratic Party as the "war party" who had forced them into a war they did not wish to fight.[4] Contrariwise, the rest of Middle and West Tennessee who had supported and driven the state's secession was equally fiercely Democratic as it associated the Republicans with Reconstruction.[5] After the disfranchisement of the state's African-American population by a poll tax was largely complete in the 1890s,[6] the Democratic Party was certain of winning statewide elections if united,[7] although unlike the Deep South Republicans would almost always gain thirty to forty percent of the statewide vote from mountain and Highland Rim support.

Between 1896 and 1948, the Republicans would win statewide contests three times but only in the second did they receive down-ballot coattails by winning three congressional seats in addition to the rock-ribbed GOP First and Second Districts.[8] In the early 1910s, prohibitionist “Independent Democrats” fled the party and formed a coalition, known as the “Fusionists,” with Republicans to elect Ben W. Hooper Governor,[9] whilst in 1920 the national anti-Wilson and anti-League of Nations tide allowed the GOP to carry a few traditionally Democratic areas in Middle Tennessee and with them the state,[10] and in 1928 anti-Catholicism against Democratic nominee Al Smith gave this powerfully fundamentalist state to Herbert Hoover.[11]

After the beginning of the Great Depression, however, for the next third of a century Republicans would rarely contest statewide offices seriously, despite continuing dominance of East Tennessee and half a dozen Unionist counties in the middle and west of the state.[12] State politics during the 1930s and 1940s was dominated by Edward Hull “Boss” Crump, whose Memphis political machine would consistently provide decisive votes in statewide Democratic primaries aided by cross-party voting by Republicans in eastern mountain counties.[12] Although Tennessee’s delegates at the 1948 Democratic National Convention were all opposed to incumbent President Harry S. Truman after his proposal for black civil rights titled To Secure These Rights, the presence of potentially formidable Republican opposition in East Tennessee and the Highland Rim meant that Crump could not even keep his own machine in line.[13] Governor McCord and even Crump’s long-time ally Senator Kenneth D. McKellar both broke with him over supporting States Rights Democratic nominees Strom Thurmond and Fielding L. Wright, with McCord losing the Democratic nomination to Crump foe Gordon Browning.[14] In order to get their electors on the ballot the Dixiecrats had to form a separate state organisation in Somerville,[13] although three of the Dixiecrat electors were simultaneously on the slate for Truman and Kentucky Senator Alben W. Barkley.[15]

14% of white voters supported Thurmond.[16]

Polls edit

Source Rating As of
Chattanooga Daily Times[17] Likely D October 15, 1948
The Montgomery Advertiser[18] Tilt R October 24, 1948
The Miami News[19] Tossup October 25, 1948
Mount Vernon Argus[20] Lean D November 1, 1948
Oakland Tribune[21] Likely D November 1, 1948

Results edit

1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Harry S. Truman (inc.) 270,402 49.14% 11
States’ Rights Strom Thurmond 73,815 13.41% 1
Republican Thomas Dewey 202,914 36.87% 0
Progressive Henry A. Wallace 1,864 0.34% 0
Socialist Norman Thomas 1,288 0.23% 0
Totals 550,283 100.00% 12

Results by county edit

1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee by county[24]
County Harry S. Truman
Democratic
Thomas Edmund Dewey
Republican
James Strom Thurmond
States’ Rights
Henry Agard Wallace
Progressive
Norman Mattoon Thomas
Socialist
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Anderson 5,915 49.97% 5,372 45.38% 433 3.66% 53 0.45% 64 0.54% 543 4.59% 11,837
Bedford 2,393 55.64% 771 17.93% 1,127 26.20% 4 0.09% 6 0.14% 1,266[a] 29.44% 4,301
Benton 1,757 63.02% 908 32.57% 116 4.16% 6 0.22% 1 0.04% 849 30.45% 2,788
Bledsoe 1,092 48.58% 1,103 49.07% 49 2.18% 4 0.18% 0 0.00% -11 -0.49% 2,248
Blount 3,141 32.91% 6,152 64.47% 214 2.24% 13 0.14% 23 0.24% -3,011 -31.55% 9,543
Bradley 2,036 39.52% 2,942 57.10% 164 3.18% 6 0.12% 4 0.08% -906 -17.59% 5,152
Campbell 2,267 42.61% 2,922 54.92% 87 1.64% 31 0.58% 13 0.24% -655 -12.31% 5,320
Cannon 1,408 66.20% 558 26.23% 141 6.63% 10 0.47% 10 0.47% 850 39.96% 2,127
Carroll 2,818 45.65% 2,651 42.95% 606 9.82% 52 0.84% 46 0.75% 167 2.71% 6,173
Carter 1,809 25.96% 4,943 70.94% 179 2.57% 13 0.19% 24 0.34% -3,134 -44.98% 6,968
Cheatham 2,731 88.58% 193 6.26% 150 4.87% 8 0.26% 1 0.03% 2,538 82.32% 3,083
Chester 980 50.52% 766 39.48% 193 9.95% 1 0.05% 0 0.00% 214 11.03% 1,940
Claiborne 2,068 44.13% 2,507 53.50% 66 1.41% 33 0.70% 12 0.26% -439 -9.37% 4,686
Clay 1,146 60.28% 703 36.98% 46 2.42% 5 0.26% 1 0.05% 443 23.30% 1,901
Cocke 939 20.35% 3,576 77.50% 72 1.56% 18 0.39% 9 0.20% -2,637 -57.15% 4,614
Coffee 2,041 56.68% 599 16.63% 933 25.91% 11 0.31% 17 0.47% 1,108[a] 30.77% 3,601
Crockett 1,415 53.60% 601 22.77% 615 23.30% 5 0.19% 4 0.15% 800[a] 30.30% 2,640
Cumberland 1,607 43.19% 1,988 53.43% 95 2.55% 9 0.24% 22 0.59% -381 -10.24% 3,721
Davidson 20,877 55.46% 8,410 22.34% 8,103 21.53% 169 0.45% 84 0.22% 12,467 33.12% 37,643
Decatur 1,565 51.82% 1,291 42.75% 156 5.17% 3 0.10% 5 0.17% 274 9.07% 3,020
DeKalb 2,412 54.67% 1,751 39.69% 249 5.64% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 661 14.98% 4,412
Dickson 2,337 74.31% 485 15.42% 315 10.02% 3 0.10% 5 0.16% 1,852 58.89% 3,145
Dyer 3,503 65.31% 989 18.44% 855 15.94% 7 0.13% 10 0.19% 2,514 46.87% 5,364
Fayette 226 12.66% 66 3.70% 1,488 83.36% 2 0.11% 3 0.17% -1,262[a] -70.70% 1,785
Fentress 962 36.52% 1,587 60.25% 46 1.75% 14 0.53% 25 0.95% -625 -23.73% 2,634
Franklin 2,948 66.08% 589 13.20% 892 20.00% 7 0.16% 25 0.56% 2,056[a] 46.09% 4,461
Gibson 3,917 65.60% 1,137 19.04% 905 15.16% 6 0.10% 6 0.10% 2,780 46.56% 5,971
Giles 3,676 75.45% 717 14.72% 443 9.09% 19 0.39% 17 0.35% 2,959 60.73% 4,872
Grainger 644 25.33% 1,824 71.75% 57 2.24% 8 0.31% 9 0.35% -1,180 -46.42% 2,542
Greene 3,282 41.68% 4,375 55.56% 154 1.96% 27 0.34% 37 0.47% -1,093 -13.88% 7,875
Grundy 2,009 78.02% 431 16.74% 113 4.39% 13 0.50% 9 0.35% 1,578 61.28% 2,575
Hamblen 1,552 39.46% 2,116 53.80% 228 5.80% 18 0.46% 19 0.48% -564 -14.34% 3,933
Hamilton 16,968 56.21% 10,434 34.56% 2,571 8.52% 150 0.50% 66 0.22% 6,534 21.64% 30,189
Hancock 416 20.15% 1,598 77.38% 38 1.84% 2 0.10% 11 0.53% -1,182 -57.24% 2,065
Hardeman 1,609 48.76% 317 9.61% 1,364 41.33% 3 0.09% 7 0.21% 245[a] 7.42% 3,300
Hardin 1,270 38.75% 1,779 54.29% 189 5.77% 28 0.85% 11 0.34% -509 -15.53% 3,277
Hawkins 2,019 34.70% 3,637 62.50% 117 2.01% 24 0.41% 22 0.38% -1,618 -27.81% 5,819
Haywood 1,050 49.32% 148 6.95% 931 43.73% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 119[a] 5.59% 2,129
Henderson 1,155 31.70% 2,278 62.53% 205 5.63% 5 0.14% 0 0.00% -1,123 -30.83% 3,643
Henry 3,292 76.99% 604 14.13% 372 8.70% 6 0.14% 2 0.05% 2,688 62.86% 4,276
Hickman 2,140 74.36% 478 16.61% 226 7.85% 25 0.87% 9 0.31% 1,662 57.75% 2,878
Houston 1,159 79.66% 202 13.88% 88 6.05% 1 0.07% 5 0.34% 957 65.77% 1,455
Humphreys 1,327 59.24% 355 15.85% 547 24.42% 5 0.22% 6 0.27% 780[a] 34.82% 2,240
Jackson 1,502 68.68% 536 24.51% 142 6.49% 5 0.23% 2 0.09% 966 44.17% 2,187
Jefferson 900 22.39% 2,979 74.12% 121 3.01% 9 0.22% 10 0.25% -2,079 -51.73% 4,019
Johnson 433 14.89% 2,413 82.98% 47 1.62% 6 0.21% 9 0.31% -1,980 -68.09% 2,908
Knox 15,946 40.68% 21,074 53.77% 1,822 4.65% 221 0.56% 133 0.34% -5,128 -13.08% 39,196
Lake 833 55.46% 179 11.92% 482 32.09% 5 0.33% 3 0.20% 351[a] 23.37% 1,502
Lauderdale 2,556 65.89% 298 7.68% 1,007 25.96% 7 0.18% 11 0.28% 1,549[a] 39.93% 3,879
Lawrence 4,854 53.43% 3,837 42.24% 373 4.11% 13 0.14% 7 0.08% 1,017 11.20% 9,084
Lewis 1,148 70.17% 381 23.29% 88 5.38% 14 0.86% 5 0.31% 767 46.88% 1,636
Lincoln 2,969 72.63% 361 8.83% 758 18.54% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,211[a] 54.09% 4,088
Loudon 1,673 37.05% 2,605 57.70% 200 4.43% 19 0.42% 18 0.40% -932 -20.64% 4,515
Macon 738 29.40% 1,708 68.05% 59 2.35% 3 0.12% 2 0.08% -970 -38.65% 2,510
Madison 4,722 52.48% 1,681 18.68% 2,586 28.74% 1 0.01% 7 0.08% 2,136[a] 23.74% 8,997
Marion 2,554 57.17% 1,738 38.91% 153 3.43% 16 0.36% 6 0.13% 816 18.27% 4,467
Marshall 3,059 71.22% 517 12.04% 691 16.09% 10 0.23% 18 0.42% 2,368[a] 55.13% 4,295
Maury 2,906 51.57% 895 15.88% 1,792 31.80% 20 0.35% 22 0.39% 1,114[a] 19.77% 5,635
McMinn 3,016 39.36% 4,432 57.84% 184 2.40% 14 0.18% 16 0.21% -1,416 -18.48% 7,662
McNairy 2,267 45.62% 2,390 48.10% 286 5.76% 16 0.32% 10 0.20% -123 -2.48% 4,969
Meigs 788 49.56% 748 47.04% 43 2.70% 8 0.50% 3 0.19% 40 2.52% 1,590
Monroe 3,553 47.08% 3,905 51.75% 73 0.97% 6 0.08% 9 0.12% -352 -4.66% 7,546
Montgomery 3,310 73.47% 646 14.34% 525 11.65% 13 0.29% 11 0.24% 2,664 59.13% 4,505
Moore 523 62.94% 102 12.27% 206 24.79% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 317[a] 38.15% 831
Morgan 1,500 48.62% 1,570 50.89% 10 0.32% 5 0.16% 0 0.00% -70 -2.27% 3,085
Obion 3,490 75.59% 642 13.91% 460 9.96% 9 0.19% 16 0.35% 2,848 61.69% 4,617
Overton 1,835 63.17% 917 31.57% 118 4.06% 23 0.79% 12 0.41% 918 31.60% 2,905
Perry 1,196 68.42% 459 26.26% 85 4.86% 6 0.34% 2 0.11% 737 42.16% 1,748
Pickett 566 39.39% 849 59.08% 19 1.32% 3 0.21% 0 0.00% -283 -19.69% 1,437
Polk 1,412 47.22% 1,529 51.14% 26 0.87% 19 0.64% 4 0.13% -117 -3.91% 2,990
Putnam 3,134 56.33% 1,879 33.77% 511 9.18% 26 0.47% 14 0.25% 1,255 22.56% 5,564
Rhea 1,897 45.70% 2,077 50.04% 159 3.83% 11 0.26% 7 0.17% -180 -4.34% 4,151
Roane 2,306 39.89% 3,236 55.98% 218 3.77% 15 0.26% 6 0.10% -930 -16.09% 5,781
Robertson 3,044 77.14% 376 9.53% 514 13.03% 6 0.15% 6 0.15% 2,530[a] 64.12% 3,946
Rutherford 4,151 68.30% 854 14.05% 1,017 16.73% 23 0.38% 33 0.54% 3,134[a] 51.56% 6,078
Scott 972 32.14% 2,016 66.67% 18 0.60% 12 0.40% 6 0.20% -1,044 -34.52% 3,024
Sequatchie 907 66.06% 420 30.59% 41 2.99% 3 0.22% 2 0.15% 487 35.47% 1,373
Sevier 840 13.99% 5,049 84.11% 70 1.17% 39 0.65% 5 0.08% -4,209 -70.11% 6,003
Shelby 23,854 36.60% 14,566 22.35% 26,396 40.50% 229 0.35% 131 0.20% -2,542[a] -3.90% 65,176
Smith 1,764 62.38% 773 27.33% 275 9.72% 9 0.32% 7 0.25% 991 35.04% 2,828
Stewart 1,962 81.38% 331 13.73% 115 4.77% 3 0.12% 0 0.00% 1,631 67.65% 2,411
Sullivan 7,626 50.44% 6,984 46.19% 472 3.12% 32 0.21% 6 0.04% 642 4.25% 15,120
Sumner 3,688 73.67% 793 15.84% 515 10.29% 10 0.20% 0 0.00% 2,895 57.83% 5,006
Tipton 3,066 65.50% 209 4.46% 1,394 29.78% 8 0.17% 4 0.09% 1,672[a] 35.72% 4,681
Trousdale 1,014 82.51% 104 8.46% 110 8.95% 1 0.08% 0 0.00% 904[a] 73.56% 1,229
Unicoi 844 29.50% 1,927 67.35% 81 2.83% 7 0.24% 2 0.07% -1,083 -37.85% 2,861
Union 513 23.79% 1,603 74.35% 19 0.88% 16 0.74% 5 0.23% -1,090 -50.56% 2,156
Van Buren 636 65.03% 298 30.47% 39 3.99% 4 0.41% 1 0.10% 338 34.56% 978
Warren 2,969 66.51% 807 18.08% 667 14.94% 21 0.47% 0 0.00% 2,162 48.43% 4,464
Washington 4,023 34.80% 7,056 61.04% 426 3.69% 34 0.29% 20 0.17% -3,033 -26.24% 11,559
Wayne 820 28.65% 1,957 68.38% 76 2.66% 5 0.17% 4 0.14% -1,137 -39.73% 2,862
Weakley 3,099 64.02% 1,310 27.06% 418 8.63% 11 0.23% 3 0.06% 1,789 36.96% 4,841
White 1,719 64.09% 635 23.68% 312 11.63% 11 0.41% 5 0.19% 1,084 40.42% 2,682
Williamson 2,294 59.41% 556 14.40% 983 25.46% 16 0.41% 12 0.31% 1,311[a] 33.95% 3,861
Wilson 3,133 66.67% 854 18.17% 685 14.58% 12 0.26% 15 0.32% 2,279 48.50% 4,699
Totals 270,402 49.14% 202,914 36.87% 73,815 13.41% 1,864 0.34% 1,288 0.23% 67,488 12.26% 550,283

Analysis edit

Truman carried Tennessee more comfortably than expected, defeating Republican nominees New York Governor Thomas Dewey and California Governor Earl Warren by 12.26 percentage points and Thurmond by 35.73 percentage points. Thurmond did however make significant inroads into traditional Democratic support in the Black Belt of West Tennessee, where he received over eighty percent in Fayette County, and also did well in prosperous urban precincts in Nashville.

Truman received eleven of Tennessee's twelve electoral votes, the other was cast in favor of Thurmond by Preston Sparks, who was also on the Dixiecrat slate.[15] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Hamilton County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[25]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u In this county where Dewey ran third behind Truman and Thurmond, margin given is Truman vote minus Thurmond vote and percentage margin Truman percentage minus Thurmond percentage.

References edit

  1. ^ "United States Presidential election of 1948 — Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "1948 Election for the Forty-First Term (1949-53)". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  3. ^ Wright, John K. (October 1932). "Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps". Geographical Review. 22 (4): 666–672.
  4. ^ Key (Jr.), Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation (New York, 1949), pp. 282-283
  5. ^ Lyons, William; Scheb (II), John M.; Stair, Billy. Government and Politics in Tennessee. pp. 183–184. ISBN 1572331410.
  6. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN 9780691163246
  7. ^ Grantham, Dewey W. (Fall 1995). "Tennessee and Twentieth-Century American Politics'". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 54 (3): 210–229.
  8. ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 287
  9. ^ Langsdon, Phillip (2000). Tennessee: A Political History. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press. pp. 287–295.
  10. ^ Reichard, Gary W. (February 1970). "The Aberration of 1920: An Analysis of Harding's Victory in Tennessee". The Journal of Southern History. 36 (1): 33–49.
  11. ^ Larson, Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. ISBN 9780465075102.
  12. ^ a b Majors, William R. (1986). Change and continuity: Tennessee politics since the Civil War. p. 72. ISBN 9780865542099.
  13. ^ a b Guthrie, Paul Daniel (1955). The Dixiecrat Movement of 1948 (Thesis). Bowling Green State University. pp. 181–182. Docket 144207.
  14. ^ Langsdon, Phillip Royal (2000). Tennessee: A Political History. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press. pp. 336–343. ISBN 9781577361251.
  15. ^ a b Guthrie; The Dixiecrat Movement of 1948 (Thesis). pp. 211-212
  16. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 147.
  17. ^ Gallup, George (October 15, 1948). "Only Four States Go to Dixiecrats". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. p. 6-A.
  18. ^ Moss, Charles (October 24, 1948). "Tennessee". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. p. 16.
  19. ^ Moss, Charles (October 25, 1948). "Tennessee". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. p. 8.
  20. ^ Tucker, Ray (November 1, 1948). "Truman Whistling in a White House Graveyard, Says Tucker, Predicting It'll Be a Dewey Sweep". Mount Vernon Argus. Mount Vernon, New York. p. 8.
  21. ^ Gallup, George (November 1, 1948). "Final Gallup Poll Shows Dewey Winning Election with Wide Electoral Vote Margin". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. pp. 1–2.
  22. ^ "1948 Presidential General Election Results – Tennessee". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  23. ^ "The American Presidency Project — Election of 1948". Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  24. ^ "TN US President, November 02, 1948". Our Campaigns.
  25. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Works cited edit