1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas
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All 9 Arkansas votes to the Electoral College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Arkansas |
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The 1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. Arkansas voters chose nine[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
Background
Except for the Unionist Ozark counties of Newton and Searcy where Republicans controlled local government, Arkansas since the end of Reconstruction had been a classic one-party Democratic “Solid South” state. Disfranchisement of effectively all Negroes and most poor whites had meant that outside those two aberrant counties, the Republican Party was completely moribund and Democratic primaries the only competitive elections.
However, ever since seeing the potential effect on the United States’ image abroad (and ability to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism)[3] of the beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard three hours after being discharged from the army, President Truman was attempting to launch a Civil Rights bill, involving desegregation of the military. This produced severe opposition from Southern Democrats, who aimed to have South Carolina Governor James Strom Thurmond listed as Democratic Presidential nominee and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright as Vice-Presidential nominee.
Unlike Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina or Virginia, Arkansas did not have a major threat from the Republican Party to block local Democratic support for Thurmond,[4] but it had only half the proportion of blacks found in Mississippi or South Carolina.[5] At the time when it became clear that a Southern bolt from the national Democratic Party was on the agenda, Arkansas was deeply divided between a Dixiecrat faction headed by outgoing Governor Ben T. Laney and a loyalist faction led by Sidney S. McMath,[6] who won the Democratic gubernatorial primary that was in this one-party state tantamount to election.
In May of 1948 Governor Laney became chairman of the “States’ Rights Democrats”;[7] however on July 12 the possibility of Laney himself becoming the nominee ended when he refused to support anyone.[8] However, as late as the September 22 Democratic Convention the Dixiecrats had hopes of pledging Arkansas’ Democratic presidential electors to Thurmond and Wright; however McMath and Congressman Charles Fuller were able to persuade the electors to remain loyal to President Truman.[9]
Vote
With the state’s Democratic electors pledged to Truman, the incumbent President and running mate Kentucky Senator Alben W. Barkley easily carried Arkansas with 61.72 percent of the popular vote, against New York Governor Thomas Dewey and California Governor Earl Warren’s 21.02 percent of the popular vote.[10][11] Vis-à-vis the previous three elections, Truman picked up Benton County and Searcy County, the latter of which which had previously only voted Democratic once since the Civil War.[a]
Thurmond, running as a third party candidate, was able to capture 16.52 percent of Arkansas’ vote. The Dixiecrats ran strongest in the Delta region of the state where Truman’s Civil Rights and “Fair Deal” policies were most feared by the powerful Black Belt planters;[12] Thurmond carried three counties with entirely nonvoting black majorities and was second in twenty-eight others. However, in the hilly northwestern half of the state Thurmond failed to crack 5 percent of the vote in eighteen counties. As of 2017, this is the last election in which Benton County and Sebastian County voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate.[13]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Harry S. Truman (inc.) | 149,659 | 61.72% | |
| Republican | Thomas Dewey | 50,959 | 21.02% | |
| Dixiecrat | Strom Thurmond | 40,068 | 16.52% | |
| Socialist | Norman Thomas | 1,037 | 0.43% | |
| Progressive | Henry A. Wallace | 751 | 0.31% | |
| Prohibition | Claude A. Watson | 1 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 242,475 | 100% | ||
Results by county
| County | Truman#[14] | Truman% | Dewey#[14] | Dewey% | Thurmond#[15] | Thurmond% | Thomas#[16] | Thomas% | Wallace#[16] | Wallace% | Total votes cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 1,781 | 53.07% | 737 | 21.96% | 806 | 24.02% | 23 | 0.69% | 9 | 0.27% | 3,356 |
| Ashley | 1,844 | 76.58% | 197 | 8.18% | 342 | 14.20% | 24 | 1.00% | 1 | 0.04% | 2,408 |
| Baxter | 1,098 | 62.39% | 553 | 31.42% | 54 | 3.07% | 45 | 2.56% | 10 | 0.57% | 1,760 |
| Benton | 3,281 | 50.38% | 2,911 | 44.70% | 274 | 4.21% | 13 | 0.20% | 34 | 0.52% | 6,513 |
| Boone | 3,190 | 63.86% | 1,499 | 30.01% | 274 | 5.49% | 11 | 0.22% | 21 | 0.42% | 4,995 |
| Bradley | 1,426 | 65.20% | 213 | 9.74% | 532 | 24.33% | 7 | 0.32% | 9 | 0.41% | 2,187 |
| Calhoun | 768 | 83.66% | 45 | 4.90% | 104 | 11.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.11% | 918 |
| Carroll | 2,032 | 55.10% | 1,525 | 41.35% | 98 | 2.66% | 15 | 0.41% | 18 | 0.49% | 3,688 |
| Chicot | 952 | 54.03% | 203 | 11.52% | 598 | 33.94% | 4 | 0.23% | 5 | 0.28% | 1,762 |
| Clark | 1,750 | 69.75% | 383 | 15.27% | 363 | 14.47% | 9 | 0.36% | 4 | 0.16% | 2,509 |
| Clay | 2,069 | 66.94% | 878 | 28.41% | 128 | 4.14% | 14 | 0.45% | 2 | 0.06% | 3,091 |
| Cleburne | 1,061 | 73.32% | 312 | 21.56% | 64 | 4.42% | 8 | 0.55% | 2 | 0.14% | 1,447 |
| Cleveland | 679 | 67.50% | 79 | 7.85% | 245 | 24.35% | 3 | 0.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,006 |
| Columbia | 1,788 | 59.98% | 217 | 7.28% | 962 | 32.27% | 12 | 0.40% | 2 | 0.07% | 2,981 |
| Conway | 1,771 | 72.17% | 425 | 17.32% | 248 | 10.11% | 5 | 0.20% | 5 | 0.20% | 2,454 |
| Craighead | 3,238 | 63.37% | 759 | 14.85% | 1,054 | 20.63% | 42 | 0.82% | 17 | 0.33% | 5,110 |
| Crawford | 1,730 | 58.60% | 1,002 | 33.94% | 190 | 6.44% | 18 | 0.61% | 12 | 0.41% | 2,952 |
| Crittenden | 594 | 24.83% | 137 | 5.73% | 1,657 | 69.27% | 2 | 0.08% | 2 | 0.08% | 2,392 |
| Cross | 1,100 | 48.57% | 213 | 9.40% | 949 | 41.90% | 2 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.04% | 2,265 |
| Dallas | 1,174 | 68.98% | 152 | 8.93% | 370 | 21.74% | 4 | 0.24% | 2 | 0.12% | 1,702 |
| Desha | 2,122 | 69.96% | 233 | 7.68% | 670 | 22.09% | 4 | 0.13% | 4 | 0.13% | 3,033 |
| Drew | 1,204 | 59.40% | 182 | 8.98% | 630 | 31.08% | 5 | 0.25% | 6 | 0.30% | 2,027 |
| Faulkner | 2,653 | 73.76% | 626 | 17.40% | 304 | 8.45% | 10 | 0.28% | 4 | 0.11% | 3,597 |
| Franklin | 1,591 | 76.05% | 391 | 18.69% | 95 | 4.54% | 6 | 0.29% | 9 | 0.43% | 2,092 |
| Fulton | 850 | 69.27% | 339 | 27.63% | 32 | 2.61% | 2 | 0.16% | 4 | 0.33% | 1,227 |
| Garland | 3,764 | 52.61% | 2,286 | 31.95% | 994 | 13.89% | 48 | 0.67% | 62 | 0.87% | 7,154 |
| Grant | 883 | 71.50% | 121 | 9.80% | 207 | 16.76% | 19 | 1.54% | 5 | 0.40% | 1,235 |
| Greene | 2,657 | 78.38% | 502 | 14.81% | 188 | 5.55% | 25 | 0.74% | 18 | 0.53% | 3,390 |
| Hempstead | 1,683 | 54.84% | 386 | 12.58% | 990 | 32.26% | 6 | 0.20% | 4 | 0.13% | 3,069 |
| Hot Spring | 1,932 | 69.90% | 555 | 20.08% | 261 | 9.44% | 12 | 0.43% | 4 | 0.14% | 2,764 |
| Howard | 1,250 | 75.67% | 199 | 12.05% | 190 | 11.50% | 13 | 0.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,652 |
| Independence | 2,340 | 66.08% | 855 | 24.15% | 330 | 9.32% | 4 | 0.11% | 12 | 0.34% | 3,541 |
| Izard | 1,283 | 81.93% | 240 | 15.33% | 36 | 2.30% | 4 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.19% | 1,566 |
| Jackson | 2,696 | 82.45% | 338 | 10.34% | 226 | 6.91% | 8 | 0.24% | 2 | 0.06% | 3,270 |
| Jefferson | 5,086 | 61.92% | 1,176 | 14.32% | 1,879 | 22.88% | 49 | 0.60% | 24 | 0.29% | 8,214 |
| Johnson | 1,565 | 69.59% | 523 | 23.25% | 138 | 6.14% | 11 | 0.49% | 12 | 0.53% | 2,249 |
| Lafayette | 700 | 49.16% | 113 | 7.94% | 578 | 40.59% | 31 | 2.18% | 2 | 0.14% | 1,424 |
| Lawrence | 2,001 | 74.89% | 497 | 18.60% | 151 | 5.65% | 11 | 0.41% | 12 | 0.45% | 2,672 |
| Lee | 528 | 35.41% | 95 | 6.37% | 866 | 58.08% | 1 | 0.07% | 1 | 0.07% | 1,491 |
| Lincoln | 1,108 | 65.91% | 378 | 22.49% | 188 | 11.18% | 5 | 0.30% | 2 | 0.12% | 1,681 |
| Little River | 900 | 59.06% | 169 | 11.09% | 447 | 29.33% | 4 | 0.26% | 4 | 0.26% | 1,524 |
| Logan | 2,130 | 66.73% | 902 | 28.26% | 143 | 4.48% | 9 | 0.28% | 8 | 0.25% | 3,192 |
| Lonoke | 2,065 | 69.04% | 383 | 12.81% | 535 | 17.89% | 3 | 0.10% | 5 | 0.17% | 2,991 |
| Madison | 2,041 | 47.50% | 2,201 | 51.22% | 39 | 0.91% | 10 | 0.23% | 6 | 0.14% | 4,297 |
| Marion | 1,133 | 72.58% | 381 | 24.41% | 31 | 1.99% | 8 | 0.51% | 8 | 0.51% | 1,561 |
| Miller | 2,850 | 62.24% | 488 | 10.66% | 1,223 | 26.71% | 9 | 0.20% | 9 | 0.20% | 4,579 |
| Mississippi | 3,763 | 59.40% | 771 | 12.17% | 1,769 | 27.92% | 27 | 0.43% | 5 | 0.08% | 6,335 |
| Monroe | 1,431 | 60.89% | 299 | 12.72% | 614 | 26.13% | 1 | 0.04% | 5 | 0.21% | 2,350 |
| Montgomery | 935 | 75.22% | 236 | 18.99% | 60 | 4.83% | 5 | 0.40% | 7 | 0.56% | 1,243 |
| Nevada | 1,140 | 64.33% | 202 | 11.40% | 418 | 23.59% | 10 | 0.56% | 2 | 0.11% | 1,772 |
| Newton | 848 | 48.51% | 879 | 50.29% | 13 | 0.74% | 4 | 0.23% | 4 | 0.23% | 1,748 |
| Ouachita | 3,315 | 68.80% | 476 | 9.88% | 1,023 | 21.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.08% | 4,818 |
| Perry | 731 | 67.00% | 201 | 18.42% | 156 | 14.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.27% | 1,091 |
| Phillips | 1,018 | 32.85% | 351 | 11.33% | 1,722 | 55.57% | 4 | 0.13% | 4 | 0.13% | 3,099 |
| Pike | 997 | 73.80% | 256 | 18.95% | 89 | 6.59% | 8 | 0.59% | 1 | 0.07% | 1,351 |
| Poinsett | 2,415 | 65.24% | 435 | 11.75% | 830 | 22.42% | 13 | 0.35% | 9 | 0.24% | 3,702 |
| Polk | 1,417 | 66.21% | 554 | 25.89% | 127 | 5.93% | 28 | 1.31% | 14 | 0.65% | 2,140 |
| Pope | 2,525 | 67.95% | 764 | 20.56% | 417 | 11.22% | 5 | 0.13% | 5 | 0.13% | 3,716 |
| Prairie | 1,020 | 60.79% | 260 | 15.49% | 379 | 22.59% | 18 | 1.07% | 1 | 0.06% | 1,678 |
| Pulaski | 13,120 | 53.25% | 5,910 | 23.99% | 5,443 | 22.09% | 51 | 0.21% | 115 | 0.47% | 24,639 |
| Randolph | 2,139 | 81.24% | 377 | 14.32% | 109 | 4.14% | 4 | 0.15% | 4 | 0.15% | 2,633 |
| St. Francis | 1,011 | 46.91% | 178 | 8.26% | 957 | 44.41% | 4 | 0.19% | 5 | 0.23% | 2,155 |
| Saline | 2,070 | 72.18% | 390 | 13.60% | 341 | 11.89% | 49 | 1.71% | 18 | 0.63% | 2,868 |
| Scott | 1,093 | 77.63% | 260 | 18.47% | 37 | 2.63% | 14 | 0.99% | 4 | 0.28% | 1,408 |
| Searcy | 1,205 | 51.81% | 1,064 | 45.74% | 44 | 1.89% | 9 | 0.39% | 4 | 0.17% | 2,326 |
| Sebastian | 5,075 | 57.36% | 2,928 | 33.09% | 777 | 8.78% | 41 | 0.46% | 27 | 0.31% | 8,848 |
| Sevier | 1,314 | 71.53% | 267 | 14.53% | 231 | 12.57% | 21 | 1.14% | 4 | 0.22% | 1,837 |
| Sharp | 1,078 | 74.19% | 295 | 20.30% | 71 | 4.89% | 4 | 0.28% | 5 | 0.34% | 1,453 |
| Stone | 1,186 | 61.80% | 644 | 33.56% | 76 | 3.96% | 4 | 0.21% | 9 | 0.47% | 1,919 |
| Union | 5,588 | 67.01% | 1,039 | 12.46% | 1,691 | 20.28% | 11 | 0.13% | 10 | 0.12% | 8,339 |
| Van Buren | 1,324 | 63.96% | 617 | 29.81% | 119 | 5.75% | 4 | 0.19% | 6 | 0.29% | 2,070 |
| Washington | 3,493 | 49.38% | 2,859 | 40.42% | 581 | 8.21% | 85 | 1.20% | 56 | 0.79% | 7,074 |
| White | 3,193 | 69.04% | 833 | 18.01% | 563 | 12.17% | 20 | 0.43% | 16 | 0.35% | 4,625 |
| Woodruff | 1,008 | 55.11% | 207 | 11.32% | 593 | 32.42% | 16 | 0.87% | 5 | 0.27% | 1,829 |
| Yell | 1,866 | 77.08% | 408 | 16.85% | 135 | 5.58% | 0 | 0.00% | 12 | 0.50% | 2,421 |
| Totals | 149,659 | 61.72% | 50,959 | 21.02% | 40,068 | 16.52% | 1,038 | 0.43% | 751 | 0.31% | 242,475 |
Notes
- ^ The only other Democrats to claim Searcy County since the Civil War have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and Jimmy Carter in 1976, although some figures for 1912 have Woodrow Wilson carrying the county because the totals for incumbent Taft in Searcy and Sebastian counties are contradictory.
References
- ^ "United States Presidential election of 1948 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ "1948 Election for the Forty-First Term (1949-53)". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ Geselbracht, Raymond H. (editor); The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman, p. 53 ISBN 1931112673
- ^ Key, Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 336 Alfred A. Knopf (1949)
- ^ Key; Southern Politics, p. 254
- ^ Williams, Nancy A. and Whayne, Jeannie M.; Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives, p. 166 ISBN 1557285888
- ^ Donovan, Timothy Paul; Gatewood, Willard B. and Whayne, Jeannie M.; The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography, p. 208 ISBN 9781557280411
- ^ McMath, Sid; Promises Kept: a Memoir, pp. 198-199 ISBN 1610753291
- ^ McMath; Promises Kept, p. 203
- ^ "1948 Presidential General Election Results - Arkansas". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ "The American Presidency Project - Election of 1948". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ Key; Southern Politics, p. 343
- ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
- ^ a b Géoelections; 1948 Presidential Election Popular Vote (xlsx file for €15)
- ^ Géoelections; Popular Vote for Strom Thurmond (xlsx file for €15)
- ^ a b Géoelections; Popular Vote for Henry Wallace (xlsx file for €15)
