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1924 United States presidential election in Tennessee

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Main article: 1924 United States presidential election

The 1924 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 12 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1924 United States presidential election in Tennessee
← 1920 November 4, 1924 1928 →
All 12 Tennessee votes to the Electoral College
 
Nominee John W. Davis Calvin Coolidge
Party Democratic Republican
Home state West Virginia Massachusetts
Running mate Charles W. Bryan Charles G. Dawes
Electoral vote 12 0
Popular vote 158,682 130,728
Percentage 52.86% 43.54%
County Results
President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elected President

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

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 West Tennessee Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] After the disfranchisement of the state's African-American population by a poll tax was largely complete in the 1890s,[4] the Democratic Party was certain of winning statewide elections if united,[5] although unlike the Deep South Republicans would almost always gain thirty to forty percent of the statewide vote from mountain and Highland Rim support. When the Democratic Party was bitterly divided, the Republicans did win the governorship in 1910 and 1912, but did not gain at other levels.

The 1920 election saw a significant but not radical change, whereby by moving into a small number of traditionally Democratic areas in Middle Tennessee[6] and expanding turnout due to the Nineteenth Amendment and powerful isolationist sentiment,[7] the Republican Party was able to capture Tennessee's presidential electoral votes and win the governorship and take three congressional seats in addition to the rock-ribbed GOP First and Second Districts. In 1922, with the ebbing of isolationist sympathy and a consequent decline in turnout,[8] the Democratic Party regained the three seats lost in 1920 and also regained Tennessee's governorship under Austin Peay, later to become notorious for attempting to prohibit the teaching of evolution.

During the deeply divided Democratic presidential primaries and 1924 Democratic National Convention, Governor Peay was Tennessee's main representative[9] Despite Tennessee's strong prohibitionist leanings and “Bible Belt” anti-Catholicism, it was thought popular Catholic New York Governor Al Smith would have to carry the state at this convention to win the Democratic nomination.[10] However, in May, Tennessee went to Smith's rival William Gibbs McAdoo, who represented the rural, southern, historically secessionist and prohibitionist wing of the party.[11]

Ultimately neither Smith nor McAdoo could prove acceptable to all Democratic delegates and the nomination went to a compromise candidate in Wall Street lawyer John W. Davis of West Virginia. Although West Virginia was a border state whose limited African-American population had not been disenfranchised as in all former Confederate States,[12] Davis did share the extreme social conservatism of Southern Democrats of his era. He supported poll taxes, opposed women's suffrage, and believed in strictly limited government with no expansion in nonmilitary fields.[13] At the same time a progressive third-party run was predicted as early as winter 1923–24, and ultimately Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. would be nominated by the “Committee for Progressive Political Action”.[14]

Campaign

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The possibility of large La Follette votes in the Midwest and West tying up the Electoral College led Coolidge and Davis to give major priority to Tennessee and the border states – where Progressive candidate Robert M. La Follette generally had little appeal – in the early fall campaigns.[15] In polling from the beginning of October, Tennessee was without representation, but at the end of that month it was rated as doubtful between Coolidge and Davis,[16] although during the third week of that month, Davis himself had said he would carry the state by thirty to fifty thousand votes.[17]

At the beginning of November, a drift to Coolidge was predicted by the New York Times, though Davis was still expected to carry the state by fewer than twenty thousand votes.[18] As it proved, Davis won Tennessee by slightly more than the New York Times expected – with a twenty-eight-thousand vote plurality. Although La Follette would relegate Davis to third in twelve states and carry his home state of Wisconsin, he had very little appeal amongst Tennessee's poll-tax-restricted electorate, with the exception of small nitrate-mining communities in and around Grundy County where he even ran second ahead of Coolidge. It was predicted in the latest polls that La Follette would gain less than ten percent of Tennessee's ballots,[18] and in the end he finished with only 3.55%, making Tennessee La Follette's fourth-weakest state nationwide.

As of 2020, Coolidge remains the last Republican to win the presidency without carrying Tennessee.

Results

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Presidential Candidate Running Mate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote (PV)
John W. Davis of West Virginia Charles W. Bryan Democratic 12[19] 158,682 52.86%
Calvin Coolidge Charles G. Dawes Republican 0 130,728 43.54%
Robert M. La Follette Burton K. Wheeler Progressive 0 10,610 3.53%
Herman P. Faris Marie C. Brehm Prohibition 0 100 0.03%
Gilbert Nations Charles Hiram Randall American 0 100 0.03%

Results by county

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1924 United States presidential election in Tennessee by county[20]
County John William Davis
Democratic 		John Calvin Coolidge
Republican 		Robert Marion La Follette Sr.
Progressive 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Anderson 548 25.31% 1,495 69.05% 108 4.99% 7 0.65% -947 -43.74% 2,158
Bedford 1,799 64.60% 925 33.21% 59 2.12% 1 0.07% 874 31.38% 2,784
Benton 1,097 58.92% 714 38.35% 33 1.77% 9 0.97% 383 20.57% 1,853
Bledsoe 485 40.96% 690 58.28% 9 0.76% 0 0.00% -205 -17.31% 1,184
Blount 968 25.51% 2,754 72.57% 35 0.92% 19 1.00% -1,786 -47.06% 3,776
Bradley 999 35.40% 1,779 63.04% 36 1.28% 4 0.28% -780 -27.64% 2,818
Campbell 648 18.25% 2,620 73.78% 283 7.97% 0 0.00% -1,972 -55.53% 3,551
Cannon 581 66.17% 285 32.46% 12 1.37% 0 0.00% 296 33.71% 878
Carroll 1,962 45.98% 2,199 51.54% 94 2.20% 6 0.28% -237 -5.55% 4,261
Carter 551 13.01% 3,657 86.33% 28 0.66% 0 0.00% -3,106 -73.32% 4,236
Cheatham 868 81.20% 181 16.93% 14 1.31% 3 0.56% 687 64.27% 1,066
Chester 758 60.25% 484 38.47% 16 1.27% 0 0.00% 274 21.78% 1,258
Claiborne 1,091 36.86% 1,775 59.97% 94 3.18% 0 0.00% -684 -23.11% 2,960
Clay 668 56.80% 488 41.50% 10 0.85% 5 0.85% 180 15.31% 1,171
Cocke 921 26.35% 2,556 73.13% 18 0.52% 0 0.00% -1,635 -46.78% 3,495
Coffee 1,691 75.52% 488 21.80% 60 2.68% 0 0.00% 1,203 53.73% 2,239
Crockett 1,168 65.80% 587 33.07% 20 1.13% 0 0.00% 581 32.73% 1,775
Cumberland 538 35.63% 885 58.61% 87 5.76% 0 0.00% -347 -22.98% 1,510
Davidson 11,363 65.69% 4,516 26.11% 1,322 7.64% 48 0.56% 6,847 39.58% 17,249
Decatur 877 51.71% 799 47.11% 20 1.18% 0 0.00% 78 4.60% 1,696
DeKalb 1,829 56.16% 1,406 43.17% 22 0.68% 0 0.00% 423 12.99% 3,257
Dickson 1,648 72.38% 516 22.66% 99 4.35% 7 0.61% 1,132 49.71% 2,270
Dyer 2,336 82.57% 478 16.90% 5 0.18% 5 0.35% 1,858 65.68% 2,824
Fayette 1,181 92.63% 65 5.10% 25 1.96% 2 0.31% 1,116 87.53% 1,273
Fentress 420 24.62% 1,197 70.16% 89 5.22% 0 0.00% -777 -45.55% 1,706
Franklin 2,072 73.03% 707 24.92% 58 2.04% 0 0.00% 1,365 48.11% 2,837
Gibson 3,235 74.97% 1,037 24.03% 35 0.81% 4 0.19% 2,198 50.94% 4,311
Giles 2,509 76.94% 677 20.76% 75 2.30% 0 0.00% 1,832 56.18% 3,261
Grainger 651 30.59% 1,464 68.80% 13 0.61% 0 0.00% -813 -38.20% 2,128
Greene 2,586 43.83% 3,282 55.63% 26 0.44% 3 0.10% -696 -11.80% 5,897
Grundy 394 51.37% 173 22.56% 194 25.29% 3 0.78% 200[a] 26.08% 764
Hamblen 1,317 48.56% 1,342 49.48% 53 1.95% 0 0.00% -25 -0.92% 2,712
Hamilton 7,511 44.76% 8,421 50.18% 848 5.05% 0 0.00% -910 -5.42% 16,780
Hancock 305 22.76% 1,028 76.72% 7 0.52% 0 0.00% -723 -53.96% 1,340
Hardeman 1,586 83.52% 254 13.38% 55 2.90% 2 0.21% 1,332 70.14% 1,897
Hardin 618 34.39% 1,175 65.39% 4 0.22% 0 0.00% -557 -31.00% 1,797
Hawkins 1,596 37.58% 2,600 61.22% 51 1.20% 0 0.00% -1,004 -23.64% 4,247
Haywood 1,872 96.15% 60 3.08% 15 0.77% 0 0.00% 1,812 93.07% 1,947
Henderson 1,009 37.68% 1,616 60.34% 51 1.90% 1 0.07% -607 -22.67% 2,677
Henry 2,478 77.36% 562 17.55% 143 4.46% 10 0.62% 1,916 59.82% 3,193
Hickman 922 73.29% 315 25.04% 21 1.67% 0 0.00% 607 48.25% 1,258
Houston 444 76.82% 97 16.78% 33 5.71% 2 0.69% 347 60.03% 576
Humphreys 1,005 79.89% 216 17.17% 37 2.94% 0 0.00% 789 62.72% 1,258
Jackson 1,074 74.69% 354 24.62% 10 0.70% 0 0.00% 720 50.07% 1,438
Jefferson 712 20.68% 2,699 78.39% 32 0.93% 0 0.00% -1,987 -57.71% 3,443
Johnson 254 8.29% 2,799 91.35% 11 0.36% 0 0.00% -2,545 -83.06% 3,064
Knox 6,935 36.53% 10,709 56.41% 1,340 7.06% 0 0.00% -3,774 -19.88% 18,984
Lake 817 89.39% 87 9.52% 8 0.88% 1 0.22% 730 79.87% 913
Lauderdale 1,596 85.44% 242 12.96% 30 1.61% 0 0.00% 1,354 72.48% 1,868
Lawrence 2,185 47.34% 2,375 51.45% 56 1.21% 0 0.00% -190 -4.12% 4,616
Lewis 310 58.94% 191 36.31% 25 4.75% 0 0.00% 119 22.62% 526
Lincoln 2,356 85.67% 357 12.98% 25 0.91% 6 0.44% 1,999 72.69% 2,744
Loudon 703 30.49% 1,533 66.48% 62 2.69% 4 0.35% -830 -35.99% 2,302
Macon 689 27.43% 1,808 71.97% 15 0.60% 0 0.00% -1,119 -44.55% 2,512
Madison 3,422 69.40% 1,110 22.51% 399 8.09% 0 0.00% 2,312 46.89% 4,931
Marion 1,036 46.84% 1,074 48.55% 102 4.61% 0 0.00% -38 -1.72% 2,212
Marshall 1,696 81.34% 349 16.74% 40 1.92% 0 0.00% 1,347 64.60% 2,085
Maury 3,000 76.06% 844 21.40% 100 2.54% 0 0.00% 2,156 54.67% 3,944
McMinn 1,617 35.85% 2,654 58.85% 239 5.30% 0 0.00% -1,037 -22.99% 4,510
McNairy 1,125 40.53% 1,625 58.54% 26 0.94% 0 0.00% -500 -18.01% 2,776
Meigs 574 46.10% 657 52.77% 14 1.12% 0 0.00% -83 -6.67% 1,245
Monroe 2,226 47.18% 2,480 52.56% 12 0.25% 0 0.00% -254 -5.38% 4,718
Montgomery 1,946 66.10% 941 31.96% 51 1.73% 3 0.20% 1,005 34.14% 2,941
Moore 492 91.62% 41 7.64% 4 0.74% 0 0.00% 451 83.99% 537
Morgan 411 23.39% 1,103 62.78% 243 13.83% 0 0.00% -692 -39.39% 1,757
Obion 3,223 85.51% 485 12.87% 61 1.62% 0 0.00% 2,738 72.65% 3,769
Overton 1,532 61.85% 900 36.33% 45 1.82% 0 0.00% 632 25.51% 2,477
Perry 494 64.49% 268 34.99% 4 0.52% 0 0.00% 226 29.50% 766
Pickett 643 48.56% 676 51.06% 5 0.38% 0 0.00% -33 -2.49% 1,324
Polk 1,150 47.31% 1,247 51.30% 34 1.40% 0 0.00% -97 -3.99% 2,431
Putnam 2,474 61.47% 1,489 36.99% 48 1.19% 7 0.35% 985 24.47% 4,018
Rhea 1,169 48.59% 1,168 48.55% 65 2.70% 2 0.17% 1 0.04% 2,404
Roane 795 30.75% 1,635 63.25% 139 5.38% 8 0.62% -840 -32.50% 2,577
Robertson 1,645 85.50% 229 11.90% 38 1.98% 6 0.62% 1,416 73.60% 1,918
Rutherford 2,137 75.01% 680 23.87% 32 1.12% 0 0.00% 1,457 51.14% 2,849
Scott 274 13.22% 1,611 77.71% 188 9.07% 0 0.00% -1,337 -64.50% 2,073
Sequatchie 374 59.74% 247 39.46% 5 0.80% 0 0.00% 127 20.29% 626
Sevier 448 11.23% 3,517 88.17% 24 0.60% 0 0.00% -3,069 -76.94% 3,989
Shelby 13,696 59.37% 7,369 31.95% 2,002 8.68% 0 0.00% 6,327 27.43% 23,067
Smith 1,701 69.86% 700 28.75% 22 0.90% 6 0.49% 1,001 41.11% 2,429
Stewart 1,369 82.57% 264 15.92% 25 1.51% 0 0.00% 1,105 66.65% 1,658
Sullivan 3,313 58.90% 2,247 39.95% 65 1.16% 0 0.00% 1,066 18.95% 5,625
Sumner 2,631 84.25% 435 13.93% 57 1.83% 0 0.00% 2,196 70.32% 3,123
Tipton 1,917 87.98% 218 10.00% 40 1.84% 2 0.18% 1,699 77.97% 2,177
Trousdale 684 82.31% 143 17.21% 4 0.48% 0 0.00% 541 65.10% 831
Unicoi 381 20.02% 1,381 72.57% 135 7.09% 3 0.32% -1,000 -52.55% 1,900
Union 368 18.73% 1,540 78.37% 57 2.90% 0 0.00% -1,172 -59.64% 1,965
Van Buren 357 73.91% 123 25.47% 3 0.62% 0 0.00% 234 48.45% 483
Warren 1,356 72.17% 490 26.08% 23 1.22% 5 0.53% 866 46.09% 1,874
Washington 1,839 35.65% 3,243 62.87% 76 1.47% 0 0.00% -1,404 -27.22% 5,158
Wayne 448 24.11% 1,398 75.24% 12 0.65% 0 0.00% -950 -51.13% 1,858
Weakley 3,149 72.78% 1,154 26.67% 24 0.55% 0 0.00% 1,995 46.11% 4,327
White 1,162 70.17% 452 27.29% 42 2.54% 0 0.00% 710 42.87% 1,656
Williamson 1,626 84.86% 242 12.63% 48 2.51% 0 0.00% 1,384 72.23% 1,916
Wilson 2,043 76.78% 580 21.80% 26 0.98% 6 0.45% 1,463 54.98% 2,655
Totals 158,682 52.82% 130,728 43.52% 10,610 3.53% 200 0.13% 27,954 9.30% 300,220

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In this county where La Follette ran second ahead of Coolidge, margin given is Davis vote minus La Follette vote and percentage margin Davis percentage minus La Follette percentage.

References

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  1. ^ Wright, John K.; ‘Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps’; Geographical Review, vol. 22, no. 4 (October 1932), pp. 666-672
  2. ^ Key (Jr.), Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation (New York, 1949), pp. 282-283
  3. ^ Lyons, William; Scheb (II), John M. and Stair Billy; Government and Politics in Tennessee, pp. 183-184 ISBN 1572331410
  4. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN 9780691163246
  5. ^ Grantham, Dewey W.; ‘Tennessee and Twentieth-Century American Politics’; Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Fall 1995), pp. 210-229
  6. ^ Reichard, Gary W.; ‘The Aberration of 1920: An Analysis of Harding's Victory in Tennessee’; The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 36, No. 1 (February 1970), pp. 33-49
  7. ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 211
  8. ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 287
  9. ^ ‘Who's Who Among the Convention Leaders: Democratic Big Guns, Including Favorite Sons and Dark Horses, From All Parts of the Country, Will Be at Madison Square Garden’; New York Times, June 22, 1924, p. XX5
  10. ^ ‘See McAdoo's Hopes Go as Smith's Gain: Democratic Leaders Predict a Deadlock on Nominations for President’; New York Times, February 12, 1924, p. 3
  11. ^ Price, Harry N.; ‘Compromise Seen Democrats’ Choice; Deadlock Possible: No Leading Candidate Will Win, Shrewd Observers Declare’; The Washington Post, May 25, 1924, p. 1
  12. ^ Ranney, Joseph A.; In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law; p. 141 ISBN 0275989720
  13. ^ Newman, Roger K.; The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law, p. 153 ISBN 0300113005
  14. ^ Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, pp. 180-183 ISBN 0595481264
  15. ^ Price, Harry N.; ‘Both Parties Count on Tennessee and Kentucky Victories: Vote of Border States Important if La Follette Ties Up Electoral College’; The Washington Post, September 15, 1924, p. 3
  16. ^ Henning, Arthur Sears; ‘Coolidge Majority Is Forecast at 33 Votes As Minimum: Likely to Reach 180 or 190 Electoral Ballots, Writer Declares’; The Washington Post, October 26, 1924, p. 1
  17. ^ ‘Third Party Victory in 6 to 8 States Expected by Davis: He Holds Democrats Have Nothing to Fear, as Only Menace Is to Republican Party’; Special to The New York Times, October 20, 1924, p. 1
  18. ^ a b ‘Tennessee: Correspondents See Drift to Coolidge’; Special to the New York Times
  19. ^ "1924 Presidential General Election Results – Tennessee". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  20. ^ Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Elections (untitled)
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