1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi explained

See main article: 1948 United States presidential election.

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.

The Democratic Party candidate, South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond, overwhelmingly won Mississippi against fellow Democrat, incumbent President Harry S. Truman by a margin of 148,154 votes, or 77.08%. Although Truman was the national Democratic Party candidate, Thurmond managed to be placed on the ballot in Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama as the official "Democratic" candidate. Outside of these four states, Thurmond was forced to run under the label of the States’ Rights Democratic Party. The Republican Party candidate, New York governor Thomas E. Dewey, had no impact on the race in Mississippi, only obtaining 5,043 votes total, or 2.62 percent of the popular vote, and failing to attract even ten percent of the vote in any Mississippi county.

Mississippi in this era was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party, so that the only competitive contests were Democratic primaries that were by law excluded to non-whites until the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright. 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)^[1] 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. Southern Democrats immediately made such cries as "unconstitutional", "Communist inspired," "a blow to the loyal South and its traditions," "unwarranted and harmful," "not the answer," and "does irreparable harm to interracial relations".^[2]

Southern Democrats walked out at the party's national convention in Philadelphia^[3] because of Truman's endorsement of civil rights for African Americans, and Mississippi, the state with the highest proportion of blacks in its population, was alongside neighbouring Alabama the most opposed to Truman.^[2] Indeed, whereas only half of Alabama's delegation walked out, all of Mississippi's did.^[4] This segregationist faction met on July 17, 1948, in Birmingham, Alabama, nominating South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond as its nominee for president. Mississippi governor Fielding L. Wright was nominated for vice president. Mississippi pledged its Democratic electors to Thurmond on August 3 without debate,^[5] and although a group of nine students from Mississippi State College qualified as Truman/Barkley electors after that ticket had sought to find electors from University of Mississippi students, all the nine nominated Truman electors personally supported the Dixiecrats rather than the national party.^[6]

92% of white voters supported Thurmond.

Polls

Source	Ranking	As of
Chattanooga Daily Times[7]		October 15, 1948
The Montgomery Advertiser[8]		October 24, 1948
The Miami News[9]		October 25, 1948
Mount Vernon Argus[10]		November 1, 1948
Oakland Tribune[11]		November 1, 1948

Results

1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi[12]

|-! colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party! style="width: 17em" |Candidate! style="width: 5em" |Votes! style="width: 7em" |Percentage! style="width: 5em" |Electoral votes|-! style="background-color:#FF9955; width: 3px" || Democratic| align="right" | Strom Thurmond| align="right" | 167,538| align="right" | 87.17%| align="right" | 9|-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" || style="width: 130px" | National Democratic| align="right" | Harry Truman (incumbent)| align="right" | 19,384| align="right" | 10.09%| align="right" | 0

|-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px" || style="width: 130px" | Republican| align="right" | Thomas E. Dewey| align="right" | 5,043| align="right" | 2.62%| align="right" | 0|-! style="background-color:#CCFF99; width: 3px" || style="width: 130px" | Progressive| align="right" | Henry A. Wallace| align="right" | 225| align="right" | 0.12%| align="right" | 0|-|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"| colspan="3" align="right" | Totals| align="right" | 192,190| align="right" | 100.00%| align="right" | 9|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | colspan="3" align="right" | Voter turnout (voting age)| colspan="3" align="right" | 16.0%^[13] |}

Results by county

1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi by county^{[14] [15] [16]} ! rowspan="2"

County	Dixiecrat/Democratic		Republican		Harry S. Truman		Progressive		Margin
data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%		%			%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%
	Adams		2,032		92.36%		95		4.32%		71		3.23%		2		0.09%		1,937		88.04%		2,200
	Alcorn		1,984		64.19%		91		2.94%		1,013		32.77%		3		0.10%		971		31.42%		3,091
	Amite		1,559		95.59%		17		1.04%		55		3.37%		0		0.00%		1,504		92.22%		1,631
	Attala		2,299		93.19%		32		1.30%		130		5.27%		6		0.24%		2,169		87.92%		2,467
	Benton		679		83.83%		11		1.36%		118		14.57%		2		0.25%		561		69.26%		810
	Bolivar		2,579		88.50%		115		3.95%		219		7.52%		1		0.03%		2,360		80.98%		2,914
	Calhoun		1,074		56.59%		36		1.90%		786		41.41%		2		0.11%		288		15.18%		1,898
	Carroll		1,138		92.82%		14		1.14%		74		6.04%		0		0.00%		1,064		86.78%		1,226
	Chickasaw		1,826		93.45%		12		0.61%		115		5.89%		1		0.05%		1,711		87.56%		1,954
	Choctaw		1,110		86.31%		43		3.34%		131		10.19%		2		0.16%		979		76.12%		1,286
	Claiborne		741		95.61%		14		1.81%		19		2.45%		1		0.13%		722		93.16%		775
	Clarke		1,763		91.44%		17		0.88%		144		7.47%		4		0.21%		1,619		83.97%		1,928
	Clay		1,604		95.14%		22		1.30%		59		3.50%		1		0.06%		1,545		91.64%		1,686
	Coahoma		1,959		84.48%		113		4.87%		246		10.61%		1		0.04%		1,713		73.87%		2,319
	Copiah		2,523		95.90%		19		0.72%		89		3.38%		0		0.00%		2,434		92.52%		2,631
	Covington		1,532		90.81%		16		0.95%		135		8.00%		4		0.24%		1,397		82.81%		1,687
	DeSoto		1,299		89.59%		14		0.97%		137		9.45%		0		0.00%		1,162		80.14%		1,450
	Forrest		5,296		90.07%		167		2.84%		406		6.90%		11		0.19%		4,890		83.17%		5,880
	Franklin		1,160		94.54%		12		0.98%		55		4.48%		0		0.00%		1,105		90.06%		1,227
	George		1,032		88.51%		25		2.14%		108		9.26%		1		0.09%		924		79.25%		1,166
	Greene		885		86.94%		14		1.38%		118		11.59%		1		0.10%		767		75.35%		1,018
	Grenada		1,405		91.17%		26		1.69%		109		7.07%		1		0.06%		1,296		84.10%		1,541
	Hancock		1,400		78.87%		151		8.51%		222		12.51%		2		0.11%		1,178		66.36%		1,775
	Harrison		6,325		84.81%		415		5.56%		692		9.28%		26		0.35%		5,633		75.53%		7,458
	Hinds		13,705		89.84%		492		3.23%		1,041		6.82%		17		0.11%		12,664		83.02%		15,255
	Holmes		2,139		96.18%		24		1.08%		61		2.74%		0		0.00%		2,078		93.44%		2,224
	Humphreys		1,116		97.55%		11		0.96%		17		1.49%		0		0.00%		1,099		96.06%		1,144
	Issaquena		209		92.89%		5		2.22%		11		4.89%		0		0.00%		198		88.00%		225
	Itawamba		1,050		60.52%		50		2.88%		634		36.54%		1		0.06%		416		23.98%		1,735
	Jackson		2,671		71.94%		238		6.41%		783		21.09%		21		0.57%		1,888		50.85%		3,713
	Jasper		1,795		92.43%		26		1.34%		121		6.23%		0		0.00%		1,674		86.20%		1,942
	Jefferson		967		97.09%		14		1.41%		15		1.51%		0		0.00%		952		95.58%		996
			1,452		94.04%		51		3.30%		41		2.66%		0		0.00%		1,401		90.74%		1,544
	Jones		5,709		87.45%		193		2.96%		599		9.18%		27		0.41%		5,110		78.27%		6,528
	Kemper		1,389		91.56%		29		1.91%		98		6.46%		1		0.07%		1,291		85.10%		1,517
	Lafayette		1,184		59.80%		48		2.42%		744		37.58%		4		0.20%		440		22.22%		1,980
	Lamar		1,342		91.35%		36		2.45%		91		6.19%		0		0.00%		1,251		85.16%		1,469
	Lauderdale		5,322		87.55%		171		2.81%		578		9.51%		8		0.13%		4,744		78.04%		6,079
	Lawrence		1,261		94.03%		13		0.97%		66		4.92%		1		0.07%		1,195		89.11%		1,341
	Leake		2,387		92.38%		12		0.46%		180		6.97%		5		0.19%		2,207		85.41%		2,584
	Lee		3,127		81.31%		82		2.13%		636		16.54%		1		0.03%		2,491		64.77%		3,846
	Leflore		2,749		92.47%		80		2.69%		139		4.68%		5		0.17%		2,610		87.79%		2,973
	Lincoln		3,082		97.01%		40		1.26%		52		1.64%		3		0.09%		3,030		95.37%		3,177
	Lowndes		2,755		93.80%		66		2.25%		116		3.95%		0		0.00%		2,639		89.85%		2,937
	Madison		1,831		93.18%		51		2.60%		81		4.12%		2		0.10%		1,750		89.06%		1,965
	Marion		2,491		90.75%		49		1.79%		205		7.47%		0		0.00%		2,286		83.28%		2,745
	Marshall		1,215		86.97%		29		2.08%		152		10.88%		1		0.07%		1,063		76.09%		1,397
	Monroe		2,281		77.09%		54		1.82%		624		21.09%		0		0.00%		1,657		56.00%		2,959
	Montgomery		1,573		91.77%		35		2.04%		105		6.13%		1		0.06%		1,468		85.64%		1,714
	Neshoba		2,833		90.51%		33		1.05%		260		8.31%		4		0.13%		2,573		82.20%		3,130
	Newton		2,439		92.04%		39		1.47%		169		6.38%		3		0.11%		2,270		85.66%		2,650
	Noxubee		1,031		91.89%		17		1.52%		74		6.60%		0		0.00%		957		85.29%		1,122
	Oktibbeha		1,786		89.12%		58		2.89%		158		7.88%		2		0.10%		1,628		81.24%		2,004
	Panola		1,935		89.17%		38		1.75%		195		8.99%		2		0.09%		1,740		80.18%		2,170
	Pearl River		1,925		90.76%		46		2.17%		146		6.88%		4		0.19%		1,779		83.88%		2,121
	Perry		764		87.12%		25		2.85%		87		9.92%		1		0.11%		677		77.20%		877
	Pike		3,648		92.59%		69		1.75%		221		5.61%		2		0.05%		3,427		86.98%		3,940
	Pontotoc		1,535		80.16%		28		1.46%		348		18.17%		4		0.21%		1,187		61.99%		1,915
	Prentiss		988		59.34%		74		4.44%		602		36.16%		1		0.06%		386		23.18%		1,665
	Quitman		1,046		90.17%		21		1.81%		91		7.84%		2		0.17%		955		82.33%		1,160
	Rankin		2,677		97.03%		23		0.83%		57		2.07%		2		0.07%		2,620		94.96%		2,759
	Scott		2,339		92.60%		15		0.59%		170		6.73%		2		0.08%		2,169		85.87%		2,526
	Sharkey		745		95.76%		10		1.29%		23		2.96%		0		0.00%		722		92.80%		778
	Simpson		2,342		91.06%		59		2.29%		171		6.65%		0		0.00%		2,171		84.41%		2,572
	Smith		1,900		85.24%		33		1.48%		295		13.23%		1		0.04%		1,605		72.01%		2,229
	Stone		1,053		93.77%		17		1.51%		50		4.45%		3		0.27%		1,003		89.32%		1,123
	Sunflower		2,482		92.85%		55		2.06%		136		5.09%		0		0.00%		2,346		87.76%		2,673
	Tallahatchie		2,122		86.75%		37		1.51%		287		11.73%		0		0.00%		1,835		75.02%		2,446
	Tate		1,196		84.70%		16		1.13%		199		14.09%		1		0.07%		997		70.61%		1,412
	Tippah		1,658		77.04%		66		3.07%		425		19.75%		3		0.14%		1,233		57.29%		2,152
	Tishomingo		1,073		56.95%		98		5.20%		711		37.74%		2		0.11%		362		19.21%		1,884
	Tunica		715		95.33%		12		1.60%		23		3.07%		0		0.00%		692		92.26%		750
	Union		1,420		72.30%		63		3.21%		478		24.34%		3		0.15%		942		47.96%		1,964
	Walthall		1,202		93.03%		5		0.39%		85		6.58%		0		0.00%		1,117		86.45%		1,292
	Warren		3,602		86.38%		245		5.88%		320		7.67%		3		0.07%		3,282		78.71%		4,170
	Washington		2,447		82.14%		271		9.10%		260		8.73%		1		0.03%		2,176		73.04%		2,979
	Wayne		1,235		89.75%		4		0.29%		137		9.96%		0		0.00%		1,098		79.79%		1,376
	Webster		1,078		76.78%		47		3.35%		277		19.73%		2		0.14%		801		57.05%		1,404
	Wilkinson		809		92.56%		21		2.40%		43		4.92%		1		0.11%		766		87.64%		874
	Winston		1,828		86.84%		33		1.57%		240		11.40%		4		0.19%		1,588		75.44%		2,105
	Yalobusha		1,382		88.14%		49		3.13%		135		8.61%		2		0.13%		1,247		79.53%		1,568
	Yazoo		2,297		95.99%		26		1.09%		70		2.93%		0		0.00%		2,227		93.06%		2,393
Totals	167,538	87.17%	5,043	2.62%	19,384	10.09%	225	0.12%	148,154	77.08%	192,190

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Dixiecrat

All 82 counties

Analysis

Thurmond carried all of Mississippi's 82 counties, forty-five with over ninety percent of the vote and seventy with over eighty percent. Truman only managed to break forty percent in one county, while Dewey was held to less than ten percent in every county. The "weakest" region for Thurmond came from the northeastern corner where he failed to break sixty percent in four counties. These northeastern counties are the least fertile in the state and were (and remain) populated by the smallest proportion of African Americans. They were also — within the one-party Democratic primary system — always opposed to the free-market business and landowning interests, who were Thurmond's chief support base. Consequently, whites in the far northeast of Mississippi — even those with enough money to pay the poll tax — supported the public works, minimum wage laws, and working hour laws of President Truman's "Fair Deal" which were strongly opposed by Black Belt landowners.^[17] In these northeastern hill counties preoccupations with race were also less overwhelming.

Thurmond's vote constitutes the highest-ever statewide vote percentage for a candidate who was not a national major party nominee, and the only time a third-party candidate swept every county in any state.^[18] This was the first time ever that a Democrat won without carrying Mississippi, and the first time since 1872 that the state voted against the national Democrats.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Mississippi

Works cited

• Book: Black . Earl . Earl Black (political scientist) . Black . Merle . Merle Black . The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected . . 1992 . 0674941306.

Notes and References

1. Geselbracht, Raymond H. (editor); The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman, p. 53
2. Boyd, William M.; 'Southern Politics 1948-1952', Phylon, Vol. 13, No. 3 (3rd quarter, 1952), pp. 226-235
3. Kehl, James A.; 'Philadelphia, 1948: City of Crucial Conventions', Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 67, no. 2 (Spring 2000), pp. 313-326
4. Krane, Dale and Shaffer, Stephen D.; Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers Versus Traditionalists, p. 82
5. Frederickson, Kari; The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968, p. 144
6. Frederickson; The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, p. 178
7. News: Gallup. George. Only Four States Go to Dixiecrats. Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. October 15, 1948. 6-A.
8. News: Carter. Hodding. Mississippi. The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. 16. October 24, 1948.
9. News: Carter. Hodding. October 25, 1948. Mississippi. 8. The Miami News. Miami, Florida.
10. News: Tucker. Ray. Truman Whistling in a White House Graveyard, Says Tucker, Predicting It'll Be a Dewey Sweep. Mount Vernon Argus. Mount Vernon, New York. November 1, 1948. 8.
11. News: Gallup. George. Final Gallup Poll Shows Dewey Winning Election with Wide Electoral Vote Margin. Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 1, 1948. 1–2.
12. Web site: Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
13. Gans, Curtis and Mulling, Matthew; Voter Turnout in the United States, 1788-2009, p. 481
14. Web site: Géoelections. Popular Vote for Strom Thurmond. (.xlsx file for €15)
15. Scammon (compiler); America at the Polls; pp. 249-250
16. Web site: Géoelections. Popular Vote for Henry Wallace. (.xlsx file for €15)
17. Book: Phillips, Kevin P.. The Emerging Republican Majority. November 23, 2014 . 208, 210. Princeton University Press . 9780691163246.
18. Book: Thomas, G. Scott. The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History. August 19, 1987 . 403. Bloomsbury Academic . 0313257957.