1948 United States elections

Last updated

1948 United States elections
1946          1947         1948         1949          1950
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 2
Incumbent president Harry S. Truman (Democratic)
Next Congress 81st
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic hold
Popular vote marginDemocratic +4.5%
Electoral vote
Harry S. Truman (D)303
Thomas E. Dewey (R)189
Strom Thurmond (SRD)39
ElectoralCollege1948.svg
1948 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Dewey, blue denotes states won by Truman, and orange denotes states won by Thurmond. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic gain
Seats contested33 of 96 seats
(32 Class 2 seats + 2 special elections) [1]
Net seat changeDemocratic +9
1948 United States Senate elections results map.svg
1948 Senate results

  Democratic gain  Democratic hold

Contents

  Republican hold
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic gain
Seats contestedAll 435 voting members
Popular vote marginDemocratic +7.2%
Net seat changeDemocratic +75
1948 United States House elections.svg
1948 House election results

  Democratic gain  Democratic hold

  Republican gain  Republican hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested33
Net seat changeDemocratic +6
1948 United States gubernatorial elections results map.svg
1948 gubernatorial election results

  Democratic gain  Democratic hold

  Republican gain  Republican hold

The 1948 United States elections were held on November 2, 1948. The election took place during the beginning stages of the Cold War. Democratic incumbent President Harry S. Truman was elected to a full term in an upset, defeating Republican nominee New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey and two erstwhile Democrats. The Democrats won back control of Congress from the Republicans. Until 2020, Democrats would never again flip a chamber of Congress in a presidential election cycle.

In the presidential election, President Truman ran for reelection despite being widely seen, even by fellow Democrats, as a vulnerable incumbent who was too risky for the party to nominate, but he ultimately won his party's nomination. In the fight for the Republican nomination, Thomas E. Dewey, who lost the previous presidential election, was renominated. In the end, Truman won the presidential election over Dewey in an upset.

In the congressional elections, the Democratic Party benefited from the coattails of Truman's victory and retook Congress. In the Senate, the Democrats took nine seats from the Republicans, regaining control of the chamber. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats won the national popular vote by a margin of 7.2 percentage points, flipped 75 seats from the Republicans, and won a sizable majority in the chamber; a large swing in the House of Representatives would not occur again until 2010.

In the gubernatorial elections, Democrats won six seats from the Republicans and won a majority of gubernatorial offices, Puerto Rico also elected Luis Muñoz Marín of the Popular Democratic Party as its first democratically elected governor.

President

In what is considered by most historians as the greatest upset in the history of American presidential politics, Democratic incumbent President Harry S. Truman defeated Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey. Going into Election Day, virtually every prediction (with or without public opinion polls) indicated that Truman would lose. Truman took most states outside the Northeast and Deep South, and won the popular vote by four points. Dewey won his party's nomination for the second straight election, defeating Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen on the Republican convention's second ballot. Truman won the Democratic nomination on the first ballot, but the party's platform on civil rights caused a third party run by Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond, the Governor of South Carolina. Thurmond took four states in the Deep South. Former Vice President and former Democrat Henry A. Wallace ran as the Progressive nominee, but took only two percent of the popular vote.

United States House of Representatives

As in the Senate, Truman's labeling of the Republican-controlled Congress as "obstructionist" helped the Democrats win a net gain of 75 seats in the House, giving them control of the chamber.

Future president Gerald Ford won his first election in this year, being elected to Michigan's 5th congressional district.

United States Senate

The Democrats gained nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber over the Republicans. Truman successfully campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives. In addition, the U.S. economy had recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–1947. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election</span> 41st quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1948 United States presidential election was the 41st quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1948. In one of the greatest election upsets in American history, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, the Democratic nominee, defeated heavily-favored Republican Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey, and third-party candidates, becoming the third president to succeed to the presidency upon his predecessor’s death and be elected to a full term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dixiecrat</span> 1948 U.S. segregationist political party

The States' Rights Democratic Party was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States, active primarily in the South. It arose due to a Southern regional split in opposition to the regular Democratic Party. After President Harry S. Truman, the leader of the Democratic Party, ordered integration of the military in 1948 and other actions to address civil rights of African Americans, including the first presidential proposal for comprehensive civil and voting rights, many Southern white politicians who objected to this course organized themselves as a breakaway faction. They wished to protect the ability of states to maintain racial segregation. Its members were referred to as "Dixiecrats", a portmanteau of "Dixie", referring to the Southern United States, and "Democrat".

Southern Democrats are affiliates of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1996 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year, in which Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1956 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate that coincided with the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies. Although Democrats gained two seats in regular elections, the Republicans gained two seats in special elections, leaving the party balance of the chamber unchanged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1954 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1954 United States Senate elections was a midterm election in the first term of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency. The 32 Senate seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and six special elections were held to fill vacancies. Eisenhower's Republican party lost a net of two seats to the Democratic opposition. This small change was just enough to give Democrats control of the chamber with the support of an Independent who caucused with them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1948 United States Senate elections were elections which coincided with the election of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and one special election was held to fill a vacancy. Truman had campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and in addition the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–1947 by election day. Thus Truman was rewarded with a Democratic gain of nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber. This was the last time until 2020 that Democrats flipped a chamber of Congress in a presidential election cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1944 United States elections</span>

The 1944 United States elections was held on November 7, 1944, during the final stages of World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was easily re-elected to an unprecedented fourth term, and the Democratic Party retained their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1952 United States elections</span>

The 1952 United States elections were held on November 4, 1952, during the Cold War and the Korean War. General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower won the White House in a landslide over Democratic Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. Meanwhile, Republicans narrowly took control of both chambers of Congress, giving Republicans their first trifecta since the Great Depression. This is the last election in the 20th century and until 2000 in which the Republicans flipped both chambers of Congress and the presidency at the same time. For the rest of the century, Republicans would often still win the presidency without full control of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1946 United States elections</span>

The 1946 United States elections were held on November 5, 1946, and elected the members of the 80th United States Congress. In the first election after World War II, incumbent President Harry S. Truman and the Democratic Party suffered large losses. After having been in the minority of both chambers of Congress since 1932, Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States elections</span>

The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first and most recent time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Virginia</span> Election in Virginia

The 1948 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 2, 1948, throughout the 48 contiguous states. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Texas</span> Election in Texas

The 1948 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 2, 1948. Texas voters chose 23 electors to represent the state in the Electoral College, which chose the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span> Election in Mississippi

The 1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 2, 1948, in Mississippi as part of the wider United States presidential election of 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Alabama</span> Election in Alabama

The 1948 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 2, 1948. Alabama voters sent eleven electors to the Electoral College who voted for President and Vice-President. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Florida</span> Election in Florida

The 1948 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 2, 1948. Voters chose eight electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina</span> Election in South Carolina

The 1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas</span> Election in Arkansas

The 1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This would be the last presidential election where Arkansas had nine electoral votes: the Great Migration would see the state lose three congressional districts in the next decade-and-a-half.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee</span> Election in Tennessee

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 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming</span> Election in Wyoming

The 1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Wyoming was won by incumbent Democratic President Harry S. Truman, running with Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley, with 51.62 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican nominee, 47th Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey, running with California Governor and future Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, with 47.27 percent of the popular vote, despite the fact that Dewey had previously won the state four years earlier.

References

  1. One Class 2 Senate seat held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1948. This seat is not double-counted for the number of total seats.
  2. "1948 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  3. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1948" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 9 April 2017.