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1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina

Main article: 1948 United States presidential election

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. South Carolina was won by States' Rights Democratic candidate Strom Thurmond, defeating the Democratic candidate, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina
← 1944 November 2, 1948 (1948-11-02) 1952 →
 
Nominee Strom Thurmond Harry S. Truman
Party Democratic (South Carolina)[1] Democratic
Alliance Dixiecrat
Home state South Carolina Missouri
Running mate Fielding L. Wright Alben Barkley
Electoral vote 8 0
Popular vote 102,607 34,423
Percentage 71.97% 24.14%
President before election

Harry Truman
Democratic

Elected President

Harry Truman
Democratic

For six decades South Carolina had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession.[2] Between 1900 and 1944, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote[3] – a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age population[4] (or approximately 15 percent of the voting-age white population).

This absolute loyalty to the Democratic Party – so strong that even Catholic Al Smith in 1928 received over ninety percent of South Carolina's limited vote total at the same time as five former Confederate states voted for Herbert Hoover[5] – began to break down with Henry A. Wallace's appointment as Vice President and the 1943 Detroit race riots.[6] The northern left wing of the Democratic Party became as a result of this riot committed to restoring black political rights,[7] a policy vehemently opposed by most Southern Democrats as an infringement upon "states' rights". Tension widened much further when new President Harry Truman, himself a Southerner from Missouri, had described to him a number of horrifying lynchings and racial violence against black veterans, most crucially the beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard three hours after being discharged from the army.[8] Truman, previously viewed as no friend of civil rights, came to believe that racial violence against blacks in the South was a threat to the United States' image abroad and its ability to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism.[9]

The result was a major civil rights plan titled To Secure These Rights a year later, and a civil rights plank in the 1948 Democratic platform. Southern Democrats were enraged by these proposals and thus sought to form a "States' Rights" Democratic ticket, which would replace Truman as the official Democratic nominee.[10] In South Carolina, Dixiecrats completely controlled the situation and achieved this[11] as early as the state's May presidential primary.[12] Consequently, Thurmond and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright were listed as the official "Democratic" nominees. 76% of white voters supported Thurmond.[13]

Polls

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Source Ranking As of
The Herald-Sun[14] Safe I (flip) September 12, 1948
Chattanooga Daily Times[15] Safe I (flip) October 15, 1948
The Evening Star[16] Certain I (flip) October 20, 1948
The Montgomery Advertiser[17] Certain I (flip) October 24, 1948
Mount Vernon Argus[18] Certain I (flip) November 1, 1948
Oakland Tribune[19] Safe I (flip) November 1, 1948

Results

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1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina[20]
Party Candidate Running mate Popular vote Electoral vote
Count % Count %
Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond of South Carolina Fielding Lewis Wright of Mississippi 102,607 71.97% 8 100.00%
Democratic Harry S. Truman of Missouri (incumbent) Alben William Barkley of Kentucky 34,423 24.14% 0 0.00%
Republican Thomas Edmund Dewey of New York Earl Warren of California 5,386 3.78% 0 0.00%
Progressive Henry Agard Wallace of Iowa Glen Hearst Taylor of Idaho 154 0.11% 0 0.00%
Write-in Norman Thomas of New York Tucker Powell Smith of Michigan 1 0.00% 0 0.00%
Total 142,571 100.00% 8 100.00%

Results by county

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1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina by county[21][22]
County James Strom Thurmond
States’ Rights/Democratic 		Thomas Edmund Dewey
Republican 		Harry S. Truman
Democratic 		Henry Agard Wallace
Progressive 		Margin[a] Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Abbeville 787 73.97% 23 2.16% 254 23.87% 0 0.00% 533 50.09% 1,064
Aiken 4,607 86.94% 115 2.17% 572 10.79% 5 0.09% 4,035 76.15% 5,299
Allendale 1,041 93.78% 14 1.26% 55 4.95% 0 0.00% 986 88.83% 1,110
Anderson 1,342 33.32% 105 2.61% 2,581 64.08% 0 0.00% -1,239 -30.76% 4,028
Bamberg 1,714 91.51% 34 1.82% 124 6.62% 1 0.05% 1,590 84.89% 1,873
Barnwell 1,920 93.02% 28 1.36% 115 5.57% 1 0.05% 1,805 87.45% 2,064
Beaufort 850 67.62% 150 11.93% 253 20.13% 4 0.32% 597 47.49% 1,257
Berkeley 1,534 79.94% 58 3.02% 323 16.83% 4 0.21% 1,211 63.11% 1,919
Calhoun 840 95.35% 4 0.45% 36 4.09% 1 0.11% 804 91.26% 881
Charleston 10,603 76.32% 562 4.05% 2,660 19.15% 68 0.49% 7,943 57.17% 13,893
Cherokee 1,075 61.15% 77 4.38% 605 34.41% 1 0.06% 470 26.73% 1,758
Chester 1,527 75.89% 48 2.39% 436 21.67% 1 0.05% 1,091 54.22% 2,012
Chesterfield 1,554 62.21% 31 1.24% 912 36.51% 1 0.04% 642 25.70% 2,498
Clarendon 1,467 92.26% 16 1.01% 107 6.73% 0 0.00% 1,360 85.53% 1,590
Colleton 2,337 89.92% 39 1.50% 223 8.58% 0 0.00% 2,114 81.14% 2,599
Darlington 1,930 69.93% 104 3.77% 726 26.30% 0 0.00% 1,204 43.63% 2,760
Dillon 967 53.72% 24 1.33% 808 44.89% 1 0.06% 159 8.83% 1,800
Dorchester 2,717 92.10% 85 2.88% 143 4.85% 5 0.17% 2,574 87.25% 2,950
Edgefield 1,797 98.20% 6 0.33% 27 1.48% 0 0.00% 1,770 96.72% 1,830
Fairfield 1,073 79.54% 63 4.67% 211 15.64% 2 0.15% 862 63.90% 1,349
Florence 3,729 72.97% 192 3.76% 1,189 23.27% 0 0.00% 2,540 49.71% 5,110
Georgetown 1,943 78.66% 92 3.72% 432 17.49% 3 0.12% 1,511 61.17% 2,470
Greenville 5,922 62.51% 789 8.33% 2,745 28.97% 18 0.19% 3,177 33.53% 9,474
Greenwood 2,508 83.21% 63 2.09% 440 14.60% 3 0.10% 2,068 68.61% 3,014
Hampton 1,530 94.33% 10 0.62% 81 4.99% 1 0.06% 1,449 89.33% 1,622
Horry 3,345 84.45% 113 2.85% 503 12.70% 0 0.00% 2,842 71.75% 3,961
Jasper 715 80.61% 31 3.49% 141 15.90% 0 0.00% 574 64.71% 887
Kershaw 1,615 82.15% 49 2.49% 302 15.36% 0 0.00% 1,313 66.79% 1,966
Lancaster 1,649 65.07% 30 1.18% 855 33.74% 0 0.00% 794 31.33% 2,534
Laurens 2,047 77.86% 69 2.62% 513 19.51% 0 0.00% 1,534 58.35% 2,629
Lee 1,155 86.65% 36 2.70% 142 10.65% 0 0.00% 1,013 75.99% 1,333
Lexington 2,237 78.19% 58 2.03% 566 19.78% 0 0.00% 1,671 58.41% 2,861
Marion 1,219 79.47% 14 0.91% 301 19.62% 0 0.00% 918 59.84% 1,534
Marlboro 1,083 73.23% 41 2.77% 354 23.94% 1 0.07% 729 49.29% 1,479
McCormick 713 95.96% 0 0.00% 30 4.04% 0 0.00% 683 91.92% 743
Newberry 2,758 87.25% 47 1.49% 349 11.04% 7 0.22% 2,409 76.21% 3,161
Oconee 1,155 59.02% 135 6.90% 666 34.03% 1 0.05% 489 24.99% 1,957
Orangeburg 3,160 83.98% 164 4.36% 435 11.56% 4 0.11% 2,725 72.42% 3,763
Pickens 1,344 69.14% 165 8.49% 435 22.38% 0 0.00% 909 46.76% 1,944
Richland 6,096 66.32% 670 7.29% 2,419 26.32% 7 0.08% 3,677 40.00% 9,192
Saluda 1,712 89.45% 15 0.78% 187 9.77% 0 0.00% 1,525 79.68% 1,914
Spartanburg 4,660 38.70% 627 5.21% 6,741 55.98% 13 0.11% -2,081 -17.28% 12,041
Sumter 2,718 78.17% 154 4.43% 605 17.40% 0 0.00% 2,113 60.77% 3,477
Union 2,090 61.13% 46 1.35% 1,283 37.53% 0 0.00% 807 23.60% 3,419
Williamsburg 1,839 92.46% 23 1.16% 126 6.33% 1 0.05% 1,713 86.12% 1,989
York 1,983 55.67% 167 4.69% 1,412 39.64% 0 0.00% 571 16.03% 3,562
Totals 102,607 71.97% 5,386 3.78% 34,423 24.14% 154 0.11% 68,184 47.82% 142,570

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Dixiecrat

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Analysis

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Thurmond won his native state by a margin of 47.83 points, making him the first third-party candidate to carry the state since Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge in 1860. This was the first time the state voted against the Democrats since 1876, and Truman was the first Democrat to win without the state since 1836.

Significant opposition to Thurmond came from the poor whites of the industrial upcountry, who rejected the Dixiecrats' opposition to public works and labor regulation.[23] Many upcountry county parties and newspapers, especially in the two counties that backed Truman over Thurmond,[24] alongside Senator Olin D. Johnston,[25] also rejected bolting from the national party.

However, sufficiently few of these poorer whites voted that Thurmond was able to easily carry South Carolina, winning 44 of the state's 46 counties and over 71 percent of the total presidential vote. Thurmond exceeded 72 percent in all but twelve counties, and passed ninety percent in ten. This was the first time any county in South Carolina had voted against the national Democrats since 1900.[26]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Because Thurmond was the official Democratic nominee in South Carolina and he and Truman came in the first two places in all counties and the state as a whole, all margins given are Thurmond vote minus Truman vote and all percentage margins Thurmond percentage minus Truman percentage.

References

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  1. ^ Key; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 332
  2. ^ Phillips, Kevin P. (November 23, 2014). The Emerging Republican Majority. Princeton University Press. pp. 208, 210. ISBN 9780691163246.
  3. ^ Mickey, Robert (February 19, 2015). Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972. Princeton University Press. p. 440. ISBN 978-0691149639.
  4. ^ Mickey; Paths Out of Dixie, p. 27
  5. ^ Key junior, V.O. (1984). Southern Politics in State and Nation. University of Tennessee Press. p. 328. ISBN 087049435X.
  6. ^ Scher, Richard K. (December 31, 1996). Politics in the New South: Republicanism, Race and Leadership in the Twentieth Century. M.E. Sharpe. p. 95. ISBN 1563248484.
  7. ^ Frederickson, Kari A. (2001). The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 39. ISBN 0807849103.
  8. ^ Geselbracht, Raymond H., ed. (2007). The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman. Truman State University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1931112673.
  9. ^ Fredericksen. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, p. 52
  10. ^ Sabato, Larry J.; Ernst, Howard R. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. Facts On File. p. 114. ISBN 9781438141817.
  11. ^ Key. Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 332
  12. ^ Mickey. Paths Out of Dixie, pp. 146-149
  13. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 147.
  14. ^ Gallup, George (September 12, 1948). "Thurmond's Long South Carolina Lead Highlights Democratic Problem in Dixie". The Herald-Sun. Durham, North Carolina. p. 1.
  15. ^ Gallup, George (October 15, 1948). "Only Four States Go to Dixiecrats". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. p. 6-A.
  16. ^ Lincoln, Gould (October 20, 1948). "States' Rights Party Sews Up South Carolina for Thurmond". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. p. A—5.
  17. ^ Montgomery, John A. (October 24, 1948). "South Carolina". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. p. 16.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Gallup, George (November 1, 1948). "Final Gallup Poll Shows Dewey Winning Election with Wide Electoral Vote Margin". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. pp. 1–2.
  20. ^ "1948 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  21. ^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 395 ISBN 0405077114
  22. ^ "Popular Vote for Strom Thurmond". Géoelections. (.xlsx file for €15)
  23. ^ Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority; pp. 262-265
  24. ^ "Thurmond Winner: State Out of Demo Column for First Time Since 1876". Anderson Independent-Mail. Anderson, South Carolina. p. 1.
  25. ^ "Johnson Openly Bucks Thurmond". The Item. Sumter, South Carolina. p. 11.
  26. ^ Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 291–293. ISBN 0786422173.

Works cited

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