1948 United States presidential election

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.

### Democratic Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Harry S. Truman|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Alben W. Barkley|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="29" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1948 Democratic Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|33th President of the United States <small>(1945-1953)</small>|U.S. Senator from Kentucky <small>(1927-1949)</small>|||
Democratic candidates:

- Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States from Missouri <small>(19</small><small>45-1953) _(Nominee)_</small>
- Richard Russell, Jr., U.S. senator from Georgia <small>(19</small><small>33-1977)</small>
- William A. Julian, Treasurer of the United States <small>(1933-1949)</small>
- Harley M. Kilgore, U.S. senator from West Virginia <small>(1941-1956)</small>
- Scott W. Lucas, U.S. senator from Illionis <small>(1933-1949)</small>

### Republican Party

|style=" font-size:135%; background-color:#E81B23; width:200px;"|Thomas E. Dewey|style=" font-size:135%; background-color:#E81B23; width:200px;"|Earl Warren|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background-color:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1948 Republican Party ticket**</big>|||
|style=" width:200px;"|***for President***|style=" width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|47th Governor of New York <small>(1943-1954)</small>|30th Governor of California <small>(1943-1953)</small>|||
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

### Dixiecrat Ticket

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF7F50; width:200px;"|Strom Thurmond|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF7F50; width:200px;"|Fielding L. Wright|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>**1948 Dixiecrat Party ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFDAB9; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFDAB9; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|103rd Governor of South Carolina <small>(1947–1951)</small>|49th and 50th Governor of Mississippi <small>(1946–1952)</small>|||

## Other websites

- 1948 popular vote by counties
- 1948 State-by-state Popular vote
- How close was the 1948 election?  – 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.

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1948 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **turnout**: 53.0%  2.9 percentage point, pp
- **flag year**: 1912
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1944 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1944
- **next election**: 1952 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1952
- **election date**: November 2, 1948
- **votes for election**: All 531 electoral votes of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 266 electoral
- **image1**: Harry-truman.jpg
- **image1 size**: x138px
- **nominee1**: **Harry S. Truman**
- **party1**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state1**: Missouri
- **running mate1**: **Alben W. Barkley**
- **electoral vote1**: **303**
- **states carried1**: **28**
- **popular vote1**: **24,179,347**
- **percentage1**: **49.6%**
- **image2**: Thomas Dewey.jpg
- **image2 size**: x138px
- **nominee2**: Thomas E. Dewey
- **party2**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state2**: New York (state), New York
- **running mate2**: Earl Warren
- **electoral vote2**: 189
- **states carried2**: 16
- **popular vote2**: 21,991,292
- **percentage2**: 45.1%
- **image3**: StromThurmond.png
- **image3 size**: x138px
- **nominee3**: Strom Thurmond
- **party3**: Dixiecrat
- **home state3**: South Carolina
- **running mate3**: Fielding L. Wright
- **electoral vote3**: 39
- **states carried3**: 4
- **popular vote3**: 1,175,930
- **percentage3**: 2.4%
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1948.svg
- **map size**: 349px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Truman/Barkley; <span style="color:#CC2200;">Red</span> denotes those won by Dewey/Warren; <span style="color:orange;">Orange</span> denotes those won by Thurmond/Wright (including a faithless elector in Tennessee). Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Harry S. Truman
- **before party**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **after election**: Harry S. Truman
- **after party**: Democratic Party (United States)