1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee

Main article: 1948 United States presidential election

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 Truman   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Dewey   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Thurmond   40–50%   80–90%

President before election Harry S. Truman Democratic Elected President Harry S. Truman Democratic

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.

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

Source	Rating	As of
Chattanooga Daily Times [17]	Likely D	October 15, 1948
The Montgomery Advertiser [18]	Tilt R (flip)	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

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 E. 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

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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	30.77%	3,601
Crockett	1,415	53.60%	601	22.77%	615	23.30%	5	0.19%	4	0.15%	800 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	-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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	23.37%	1,502
Lauderdale	2,556	65.89%	298	7.68%	1,007	25.96%	7	0.18%	11	0.28%	1,549 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	55.13%	4,295
Maury	2,906	51.57%	895	15.88%	1,792	31.80%	20	0.35%	22	0.39%	1,114 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	64.12%	3,946
Rutherford	4,151	68.30%	854	14.05%	1,017	16.73%	23	0.38%	33	0.54%	3,134 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	-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 [lower-alpha 1]	35.72%	4,681
Trousdale	1,014	82.51%	104	8.46%	110	8.95%	1	0.08%	0	0.00%	904 [lower-alpha 1]	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 [lower-alpha 1]	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

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Carroll

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Dixiecrat

• Shelby
• Fayette

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• McMinn
• Polk

Analysis

Truman carried Tennessee more comfortably than expected, defeating Republican nominees New York Governor Thomas E. 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, with the other cast in favor of Thurmond by Preston Parks of Somerville, TN, who was also on the Dixiecrat slate. ^{[15] [25]} As of the 2020 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which Hamilton County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. ^[26]

See also

• United States presidential elections in Tennessee

Notes

1. 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

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. Majors, William R. (1986). Change and continuity: Tennessee politics since the Civil War. p. 72. ISBN   9780865542099.
13. 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. 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. "TRUMAN'S MARGIN IS CUT BY ONE VOTE; An Elector in Tennessee Stays With Thurmond Although President Won State". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 19, 2024.
26. 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

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN   0674941306.