Election of 1948: Truman and the Divided Electorate

Candidates:
Democratic Party: Harry Truman (Missouri) and Alben Barkley (Kentucky)
Republican Party: Thomas Dewey (New York) and Earl Warren (California)
States’ Rights Party: J. Strom Thurmond (South Carolina) and Fielding Wright (Mississippi)
Progressive Party: Henry Wallace (Iowa) and Glen Taylor (Idaho)

Election Results:
Truman and Barkley: 24.1 million popular votes, 303 electoral votes.
Dewey and Warren: 21.9 million popular votes, 189 electoral votes.
Thurmond and Wright: 1.17 million popular votes, 39 electoral votes.
Wallace and Taylor: 1.15 million popular votes, 0 electoral votes.

Summary:
Harry Truman’s reelection was by no means assured, given the rise of the Republicans during the 1946 midterms and Truman’s own unpopularity. The Republican Party took over both the House and the Senate for the first time in two decades and challenged Truman at every turn. Truman tried to shore up support with important Democratic constituencies, including blacks, labor, and the Jewish community by advocating for civil rights and pro-labor legislation as well as recognizing the new state of Israel in 1948. However, by the end of 1946, polls showed that Truman’s approval rating hovered around 35%.

The Democratic nomination process was even a struggle for Truman. The Democrats, eager to recapture the strong leadership of Franklin Roosevelt, recruited General Dwight Eisenhower to run as the Democratic nominee for president while moving Harry Truman to vice president. This arrangement was not acceptable to Eisenhower, however, as he declined to run for either party in this particular race (and he would later reveal himself to be a Republican). The Democratic platform began to include more liberal programs for federal housing, civil rights, and national health care.