1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas

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. This would be the last presidential election where Arkansas had nine electoral votes: the Great Migration would see the state lose three congressional districts in the next decade-and-a-half.

1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas

November 2, 1948[1]
All 9 Arkansas votes to the Electoral College
Nominee Harry S. Truman Thomas 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 9 0 0 Popular vote 149,659 50,959 40,068 Percentage 61.7% 21.0% 16.5%
County Results Truman   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Dewey   50-60% Thurmond   50-60%   60-70%
President before election Harry S. Truman Democratic Elected President Harry S. Truman Democratic

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.[3] 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)[4] 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,[5] but it had only half the proportion of blacks found in Mississippi or South Carolina.[6] 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.[7]

McMath was to win the Democratic gubernatorial primary that was in this one-party state tantamount to election, and despite the efforts of Laney and state party chairman Arthur Adams, it was clear from the beginning of the campaign that they held little sway over the Democratic rank and file who were loyal to Truman.[8]

In May 1948 Governor Laney became chairman of the "States' Rights Democrats";[9] however on July 12 the possibility of Laney himself becoming the nominee ended when he refused to support anyone.[10] 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.[11]

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% of the popular vote, against New York Governor Thomas Dewey and California Governor Earl Warren's 21.02% of the popular vote.[12][13] Vis-à-vis the 1944 election, Truman picked up Benton County and Searcy County, the latter of which had previously only voted Democratic once since the Civil War.[lower-alpha 1]

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;[14] 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 the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Benton County and Sebastian County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[15] Arkansas was also the only state in the entire country where Norman Thomas beat Henry Wallace.

Results

1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas

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	Harry S. Truman[16] Democratic		Thomas Edmund Dewey[16] Republican		James Strom Thurmond[17] States' Rights Democratic		Norman Mattoon Thomas[18] Socialist		Henry Agard Wallace[18] Progressive		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Arkansas	1,781	53.07%	737	21.96%	806	24.02%	23	0.69%	9	0.27%	975[lower-alpha 2]	29.05%	3,356
Ashley	1,844	76.58%	197	8.18%	342	14.20%	24	1.00%	1	0.04%	1,502[lower-alpha 2]	62.38%	2,408
Baxter	1,098	62.39%	553	31.42%	54	3.07%	45	2.56%	10	0.57%	545	30.97%	1,760
Benton	3,281	50.38%	2,911	44.70%	274	4.21%	13	0.20%	34	0.52%	370	5.68%	6,513
Boone	3,190	63.86%	1,499	30.01%	274	5.49%	11	0.22%	21	0.42%	1,691	33.85%	4,995
Bradley	1,426	65.20%	213	9.74%	532	24.33%	7	0.32%	9	0.41%	894[lower-alpha 2]	40.88%	2,187
Calhoun	768	83.66%	45	4.90%	104	11.33%	0	0.00%	1	0.11%	664[lower-alpha 2]	72.33%	918
Carroll	2,032	55.10%	1,525	41.35%	98	2.66%	15	0.41%	18	0.49%	507	13.75%	3,688
Chicot	952	54.03%	203	11.52%	598	33.94%	4	0.23%	5	0.28%	354[lower-alpha 2]	20.09%	1,762
Clark	1,750	69.75%	383	15.27%	363	14.47%	9	0.36%	4	0.16%	1,367	54.48%	2,509
Clay	2,069	66.94%	878	28.41%	128	4.14%	14	0.45%	2	0.06%	1,191	38.53%	3,091
Cleburne	1,061	73.32%	312	21.56%	64	4.42%	8	0.55%	2	0.14%	749	51.76%	1,447
Cleveland	679	67.50%	79	7.85%	245	24.35%	3	0.30%	0	0.00%	434[lower-alpha 2]	43.14%	1,006
Columbia	1,788	59.98%	217	7.28%	962	32.27%	12	0.40%	2	0.07%	826[lower-alpha 2]	27.71%	2,981
Conway	1,771	72.17%	425	17.32%	248	10.11%	5	0.20%	5	0.20%	1,346	54.85%	2,454
Craighead	3,238	63.37%	759	14.85%	1,054	20.63%	42	0.82%	17	0.33%	2,184[lower-alpha 2]	42.74%	5,110
Crawford	1,730	58.60%	1,002	33.94%	190	6.44%	18	0.61%	12	0.41%	728	24.66%	2,952
Crittenden	594	24.83%	137	5.73%	1,657	69.27%	2	0.08%	2	0.08%	-1,063[lower-alpha 2]	-44.44%	2,392
Cross	1,100	48.57%	213	9.40%	949	41.90%	2	0.09%	1	0.04%	151[lower-alpha 2]	6.67%	2,265
Dallas	1,174	68.98%	152	8.93%	370	21.74%	4	0.24%	2	0.12%	804[lower-alpha 2]	47.24%	1,702
Desha	2,122	69.96%	233	7.68%	670	22.09%	4	0.13%	4	0.13%	1,452[lower-alpha 2]	47.87%	3,033
Drew	1,204	59.40%	182	8.98%	630	31.08%	5	0.25%	6	0.30%	574[lower-alpha 2]	28.32%	2,027
Faulkner	2,653	73.76%	626	17.40%	304	8.45%	10	0.28%	4	0.11%	2,027	56.35%	3,597
Franklin	1,591	76.05%	391	18.69%	95	4.54%	6	0.29%	9	0.43%	1,200	57.36%	2,092
Fulton	850	69.27%	339	27.63%	32	2.61%	2	0.16%	4	0.33%	511	41.65%	1,227
Garland	3,764	52.61%	2,286	31.95%	994	13.89%	48	0.67%	62	0.87%	1,478	20.66%	7,154
Grant	883	71.50%	121	9.80%	207	16.76%	19	1.54%	5	0.40%	676[lower-alpha 2]	54.74%	1,235
Greene	2,657	78.38%	502	14.81%	188	5.55%	25	0.74%	18	0.53%	2,155	63.57%	3,390
Hempstead	1,683	54.84%	386	12.58%	990	32.26%	6	0.20%	4	0.13%	693[lower-alpha 2]	22.58%	3,069
Hot Spring	1,932	69.90%	555	20.08%	261	9.44%	12	0.43%	4	0.14%	1,377	49.82%	2,764
Howard	1,250	75.67%	199	12.05%	190	11.50%	13	0.79%	0	0.00%	1,051	63.62%	1,652
Independence	2,340	66.08%	855	24.15%	330	9.32%	4	0.11%	12	0.34%	1,485	41.94%	3,541
Izard	1,283	81.93%	240	15.33%	36	2.30%	4	0.26%	3	0.19%	1,043	66.60%	1,566
Jackson	2,696	82.45%	338	10.34%	226	6.91%	8	0.24%	2	0.06%	2,358	72.11%	3,270
Jefferson	5,086	61.92%	1,176	14.32%	1,879	22.88%	49	0.60%	24	0.29%	3,207[lower-alpha 2]	39.04%	8,214
Johnson	1,565	69.59%	523	23.25%	138	6.14%	11	0.49%	12	0.53%	1,042	46.33%	2,249
Lafayette	700	49.16%	113	7.94%	578	40.59%	31	2.18%	2	0.14%	122[lower-alpha 2]	8.57%	1,424
Lawrence	2,001	74.89%	497	18.60%	151	5.65%	11	0.41%	12	0.45%	1,504	56.29%	2,672
Lee	528	35.41%	95	6.37%	866	58.08%	1	0.07%	1	0.07%	-338[lower-alpha 2]	-22.67%	1,491
Lincoln	1,108	65.91%	378	22.49%	188	11.18%	5	0.30%	2	0.12%	730	43.43%	1,681
Little River	900	59.06%	169	11.09%	447	29.33%	4	0.26%	4	0.26%	453[lower-alpha 2]	29.72%	1,524
Logan	2,130	66.73%	902	28.26%	143	4.48%	9	0.28%	8	0.25%	1,228	38.47%	3,192
Lonoke	2,065	69.04%	383	12.81%	535	17.89%	3	0.10%	5	0.17%	1,530[lower-alpha 2]	51.15%	2,991
Madison	2,041	47.50%	2,201	51.22%	39	0.91%	10	0.23%	6	0.14%	-160	-3.72%	4,297
Marion	1,133	72.58%	381	24.41%	31	1.99%	8	0.51%	8	0.51%	752	48.17%	1,561
Miller	2,850	62.24%	488	10.66%	1,223	26.71%	9	0.20%	9	0.20%	1,627[lower-alpha 2]	35.53%	4,579
Mississippi	3,763	59.40%	771	12.17%	1,769	27.92%	27	0.43%	5	0.08%	1,994[lower-alpha 2]	31.48%	6,335
Monroe	1,431	60.89%	299	12.72%	614	26.13%	1	0.04%	5	0.21%	817[lower-alpha 2]	34.77%	2,350
Montgomery	935	75.22%	236	18.99%	60	4.83%	5	0.40%	7	0.56%	699	56.23%	1,243
Nevada	1,140	64.33%	202	11.40%	418	23.59%	10	0.56%	2	0.11%	722[lower-alpha 2]	40.74%	1,772
Newton	848	48.51%	879	50.29%	13	0.74%	4	0.23%	4	0.23%	-31	-1.77%	1,748
Ouachita	3,315	68.80%	476	9.88%	1,023	21.23%	0	0.00%	4	0.08%	2,292[lower-alpha 2]	47.57%	4,818
Perry	731	67.00%	201	18.42%	156	14.30%	0	0.00%	3	0.27%	530	48.58%	1,091
Phillips	1,018	32.85%	351	11.33%	1,722	55.57%	4	0.13%	4	0.13%	-704[lower-alpha 2]	-22.72%	3,099
Pike	997	73.80%	256	18.95%	89	6.59%	8	0.59%	1	0.07%	741	54.85%	1,351
Poinsett	2,415	65.24%	435	11.75%	830	22.42%	13	0.35%	9	0.24%	1,585[lower-alpha 2]	42.81%	3,702
Polk	1,417	66.21%	554	25.89%	127	5.93%	28	1.31%	14	0.65%	863	40.33%	2,140
Pope	2,525	67.95%	764	20.56%	417	11.22%	5	0.13%	5	0.13%	1,761	47.39%	3,716
Prairie	1,020	60.79%	260	15.49%	379	22.59%	18	1.07%	1	0.06%	641[lower-alpha 2]	38.20%	1,678
Pulaski	13,120	53.25%	5,910	23.99%	5,443	22.09%	51	0.21%	115	0.47%	7,210	29.26%	24,639
Randolph	2,139	81.24%	377	14.32%	109	4.14%	4	0.15%	4	0.15%	1,762	66.92%	2,633
St. Francis	1,011	46.91%	178	8.26%	957	44.41%	4	0.19%	5	0.23%	54[lower-alpha 2]	2.51%	2,155
Saline	2,070	72.18%	390	13.60%	341	11.89%	49	1.71%	18	0.63%	1,680	58.58%	2,868
Scott	1,093	77.63%	260	18.47%	37	2.63%	14	0.99%	4	0.28%	833	59.16%	1,408
Searcy	1,205	51.81%	1,064	45.74%	44	1.89%	9	0.39%	4	0.17%	141	6.06%	2,326
Sebastian	5,075	57.36%	2,928	33.09%	777	8.78%	41	0.46%	27	0.31%	2,147	24.27%	8,848
Sevier	1,314	71.53%	267	14.53%	231	12.57%	21	1.14%	4	0.22%	1,047	57.00%	1,837
Sharp	1,078	74.19%	295	20.30%	71	4.89%	4	0.28%	5	0.34%	783	53.89%	1,453
Stone	1,186	61.80%	644	33.56%	76	3.96%	4	0.21%	9	0.47%	542	28.24%	1,919
Union	5,588	67.01%	1,039	12.46%	1,691	20.28%	11	0.13%	10	0.12%	3,897[lower-alpha 2]	46.73%	8,339
Van Buren	1,324	63.96%	617	29.81%	119	5.75%	4	0.19%	6	0.29%	707	34.15%	2,070
Washington	3,493	49.38%	2,859	40.42%	581	8.21%	85	1.20%	56	0.79%	634	8.96%	7,074
White	3,193	69.04%	833	18.01%	563	12.17%	20	0.43%	16	0.35%	2,360	51.03%	4,625
Woodruff	1,008	55.11%	207	11.32%	593	32.42%	16	0.87%	5	0.27%	415[lower-alpha 2]	22.69%	1,829
Yell	1,866	77.08%	408	16.85%	135	5.58%	0	0.00%	12	0.50%	1,458	60.22%	2,421
Totals	149,659	61.72%	50,959	21.02%	40,068	16.52%	1,038	0.43%	751	0.31%	98,700	40.71%	242,475

Notes

1. 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.
2. In this county where Dewey ran third behind both Truman and Thurmond, margin given is Truman vote minus Thurmond vote and percentage margin Truman percentage minus Thurmond percentage.

References

1. "United States Presidential election of 1948 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
2. "1948 Election for the Forty-First Term (1949-53)". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
3. See Urwin, Cathy Kunzinger; Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967-71, p. 32 ISBN 1557282005
4. Geselbracht, Raymond H. (editor); The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman, p. 53 ISBN 1931112673
5. Key, Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 336 Alfred A. Knopf (1949)
6. Key; Southern Politics, p. 254
7. Williams, Nancy A. and Whayne, Jeannie M.; Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives, p. 166 ISBN 1557285888
8. Frederickson, Kari; The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968, p. 117 ISBN 0807849103
9. Donovan, Timothy Paul; Gatewood, Willard B. and Whayne, Jeannie M.; The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography, p. 208 ISBN 9781557280411
10. McMath, Sid; Promises Kept: a Memoir, pp. 198-199 ISBN 1610753291
11. McMath; Promises Kept, p. 203
12. "1948 Presidential General Election Results - Arkansas". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
13. "The American Presidency Project - Election of 1948". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
14. Key; Southern Politics, p. 343
15. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
16. Géoelections; 1948 Presidential Election Popular Vote (xlsx file for €15)
17. Géoelections; Popular Vote for Strom Thurmond (xlsx file for €15)
18. Géoelections; Popular Vote for Henry Wallace (xlsx file for €15)