# 1948 United States presidential election

1948 United States presidential election|

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| **November 2, 1948** |

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All 531 electoral votes of the Electoral College 266 electoral votes needed to win |
| Turnout | 53.0%  2.9 pp |
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| 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 | **303** | 189 | 39 |
| States carried | **28** | 16 | 4 |
| Popular vote | **24,179,347** | 21,991,292 | 1,175,930 |
| Percentage | **49.6%** | 45.1% | 2.4% |

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Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Truman/Barkley; Red denotes those won by Dewey/Warren; Orange denotes those won by Thurmond/Wright (including a faithless elector in Tennessee). Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. |
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| **Presidentbefore election**
Harry S. Truman
Democratic | **ElectedPresident**
Harry S. Truman
Democratic |

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The **1948 United States presidential election** happened on November 2, 1948. This election was between Harry S. Truman (president at that time) and Thomas E. Dewey (the Governor of New York). Truman won by 303 electoral votes. Dewey got 189 electoral votes. Thurmond got 39 electoral votes including a faithless elector in Tennessee.

This election is best known as an upset because of the election results. Predictions showed that Dewey would beat Truman at the polls. For example, a newspaper in Chicago printed an issue in advance which said that Dewey had won the election. However, Truman won the election instead.

## Candidates

### Democratic Party

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| Democratic Party (United States)**1948 Democratic Party Ticket** |
| Harry S. Truman | Alben W. Barkley |
| for President | for Vice President |
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| 33th President of the United States (1945-1953) | U.S. Senator from Kentucky (1927-1949) |

Democratic candidates:

* Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States from Missouri (1945-1953) *(Nominee)*
* Richard Russell, Jr., U.S. senator from Georgia (1933-1977)
* William A. Julian, Treasurer of the United States (1933-1949)
* Harley M. Kilgore, U.S. senator from West Virginia (1941-1956)
* Scott W. Lucas, U.S. senator from Illionis (1933-1949)

* President
**Harry S. Truman**
from Missouri
(1945–1953)
* Senator
**Richard Russell Jr.**
from Georgia
(1933–1971)
* Senator
**William A. Julian**
from Ohio
(1933–1949)

### Republican Party

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| Republican Party (United States)**1948 Republican Party ticket** |
| Thomas E. Dewey | Earl Warren |
| for President | for Vice President |
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| 47th Governor of New York (1943-1954) | 30th Governor of California (1943-1953) |

Republican candidates:

* Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York
* Robert Taft, Senator from Ohio
* Harold Stassen, former governor of Minnesota
* Arthur H. Vandenberg, President pro tempore of the senate from Michigan
* Earl Warren, governor of California
* Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army from New York

#### Candidates gallery

* Governor **Thomas E. Dewey** of New York
* Senator **Robert Taft** of Ohio
* Former Governor **Harold Stassen** of Minnesota
* President pro tempore of the Senate **Arthur H. Vandenberg** of Michigan
* Governor **Earl Warren** of California
* General of the Army **Douglas MacArthur** of New York

### Dixiecrat Ticket

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| **1948 Dixiecrat Party ticket** |
| Strom Thurmond | Fielding L. Wright |
| for President | for Vice President |
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| 103rd Governor of South Carolina (1947–1951) | 49th and 50th Governor of Mississippi (1946–1952) |

## Other websites

* 1948 popular vote by counties
* 1948 State-by-state Popular vote Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
* How close was the 1948 election? Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine – Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* *Booknotes* interview with Zachary Karabell on *The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election*, June 4, 2000.