Republican Party presidential primaries, 1948

Republican Presidential Primaries, 1948

March 9 to June 1, 1948

Nominee Thomas Dewey Harold Stassen Robert A. Taft Party Republican Republican Republican Home state New York Minnesota Ohio States carried 2 4 1 Popular vote 330,799 627,321 464,741 Percentage 11.58% 21.96% 16.27%   Candidate Earl Warren Riley A. Bender Douglas MacArthur Party Republican Republican Republican Home state California Illinois Wisconsin States carried 1 1 0 Popular vote 771,295 324,029 87,839 Percentage 26.99% 11.34% 3.07%   Candidate Leverett Saltonstall Herbert E. Hitchcock Party Republican Republican Home state Massachusetts South Dakota States carried 1 1 Popular vote 72,191 45,463 Percentage 2.53% 1.59%

Results map by state.

The 1948 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1948 U.S. presidential election. The nominee was selected through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1948 Republican National Convention held from June 21 to June 25, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Both major parties courted general Dwight Eisenhower, the most popular general of World War II. Eisenhower's political views were unknown in 1948. He was, later events would prove, a moderate Republican, but in 1948 he flatly refused the nomination of any political party.

With Eisenhower refusing to run, the contest for the Republican nomination was between New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, General Douglas MacArthur, Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft and California Governor Earl Warren. Governor Dewey, who had been the Republican nominee in 1944, was regarded as the frontrunner when the primaries began. Dewey was the acknowledged leader of the GOP's powerful eastern establishment; in 1946 he had been re-elected Governor of New York by the largest margin in state history. Dewey's handicap was that many Republicans disliked him; he often struck observers as cold, stiff and condescending. Senator Taft was the leader of the GOP's conservative wing. He opened his campaign in 1947 by attacking the Democratic Party's domestic policy and foreign policy. In foreign policy, Taft was an non-interventionist who opposed many of the alliances the U.S. government had made with other nations to fight the Cold War with the Soviet Union; he believed that the nation should concentrate on its own problems and avoid "imperial entanglements". On domestic issues, Taft and his fellow conservatives wanted to abolish many of the New Deal social welfare programs that had been created in the 1930s; they regarded these programs as too expensive and harmful to business interests. Taft had two major weaknesses: he was seen as a plodding, dull campaigner, and he was viewed by most party leaders as being too conservative and controversial to win a presidential election. Taft's support was limited to his native Midwestern United States and parts of the Southern United States.

The "surprise" candidate of 1948 was Stassen, the former "boy wonder" of Minnesota politics. Stassen had been elected governor of Minnesota at the age of 31; he resigned as governor in 1943 and served in the Communist Party in the United States. Stassen, despite his liberal reputation, argued in favor of outlawing the party, while Dewey forcefully argued against it; at one point he famously stated that "you can't shoot an idea with a gun". Most observers rated Dewey as the winner of the debate, and a few days later Dewey defeated Stassen in Oregon. From this point forward, the New York governor had the momentum he needed to win his party's second nomination.

Republican candidates

Nominee

• Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York

Withdrew during convention

• Senator Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut

• Governor Alfred E. Driscoll of New Jersey

• Governor Dwight H. Green of Illinois

• General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of Wisconsin

• Senator Edward Martin of Pennsylvania

• Speaker of the House Joseph William Martin, Jr. of Massachusetts

• RNC Chairman B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee

• Former Governor Harold E. Stassen of Minnesota

• Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio

• President pro tempore of the Senate Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan

• Governor Earl Warren of California

Withdrew during primaries

• Businessman Riley A. Bender of Illinois

• Former Senator Herbert E. Hitchcock of South Dakota

• Senator Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts

Declined to run

• Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio

• General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower of Kansas

• Former President Herbert Hoover of California

• US Chamber President Eric Johnston of Washington, D.C.

• Senator Kenneth Wherry of Nebraska

Statewide contests by winner

• Italics - Write-In Vote

Primaries total popular vote results:^[1]

• Earl Warren - 771,295 (26.99%)
• Harold Stassen - 627,321 (21.96%)
• Robert A. Taft - 464,741 (16.27%)
• Thomas E. Dewey - 330,799 (11.58%)
• Riley A. Bender - 324,029 (11.34%)
• Douglas MacArthur - 87,839 (3.07%)
• Leverett Saltonstall - 72,191 (2.53%)
• Herbert E. Hitchcock - 45,463 (1.59%)
• Edward Martin - 45,072 (1.58%)
• Unpledged delegates - 28,854 (1.01%)
• Arthur H. Vandenberg - 18,924 (0.66%)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower - 5,014 (0.18%)
• Harry S. Truman - 4,907 (0.17%)
• Henry A. Wallace - 1,452 (0.05%)
• Joseph W. Martin - 974 (0.03%)

Convention

The 1948 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first presidential convention to be shown on television. As the convention opened, Dewey was seen as having a large lead in the delegate count. His major opponents – Taft, Stassen, and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan – met in Taft's hotel suite to plan a "stop-Dewey" movement. However, a key obstacle soon developed when the three men refused to unite behind a single candidate to oppose Dewey. Instead, all three men simply agreed to try to hold their own delegates in the hopes of preventing Dewey from obtaining a majority. This proved to be futile, as Dewey's efficient campaign team gathered up the delegates they needed to win the nomination. After the second round of balloting, Dewey was only 33 votes short of victory. Taft then called Stassen and urged him to withdraw from the race and endorse him as Dewey's main opponent. When Stassen refused, Taft wrote a concession speech and had it read at the start of the third ballot; Dewey was then nominated by acclamation. Dewey then chose popular Governor Earl Warren of California as his running mate. Following the convention, most political experts in the news media rated the GOP ticket as an almost-certain winner over the Democrats.

References

1. ^ Our Campaigns - US President - R Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1948