1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina

The 1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. South Carolina was won by States' Rights Democratic candidate, South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, defeating the Democratic candidate, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

For six decades South Carolina had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession. Between 1900 and 1944, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote – a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age populationMickey; Paths Out of Dixie, p. 27 (or approximately 15 percent of the voting-age white population).

This absolute loyalty to the Democratic Party – so strong that even Catholic Al Smith in 1928 received over ninety percent of South Carolina's limited vote total at the same time as five former Confederate states voted for Herbert Hoover – began to break down with Henry A. Wallace's appointment as vice president and the 1943 Detroit race riots. The northern left wing of the Democratic Party became as a result of this riot committed to restoring black political rights, a policy vehemently opposed by most Southern Democrats as an infringement upon "states' rights". Tension widened much further when new President Harry Truman, himself a Southerner from Missouri, had described to him a number of horrifying lynchings and racial violence against black veterans, most crucially the beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard three hours after being discharged from the army. Truman, previously viewed as no friend of civil rights, came to believe that racial violence against blacks in the South was a threat to the United States' image abroad and its ability to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism.Fredericksen. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, p. 52

The result was a major civil rights plan titled To Secure These Rights a year later, and a civil rights plank in the 1948 Democratic platform. Southern Democrats were enraged by these proposals and thus sought to form a "States' Rights" Democratic ticket, which would replace Truman as the official Democratic nominee. In South Carolina, Dixiecrats completely controlled the situation and achieved thisKey. Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 332 as early as the state's May presidential primary.Mickey. Paths Out of Dixie, pp. 146-149 Consequently, Thurmond and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright were listed as the official "Democratic" nominees. Thurmond won 76% of white voters.

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Herald-SunSeptember 12, 1948Chattanooga Daily TimesOctober 15, 1948The Evening StarOctober 20, 1948The Montgomery AdvertiserOctober 24, 1948Mount Vernon ArgusNovember 1, 1948Oakland TribuneNovember 1, 1948

Results

Results by county CountyScammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 395 Strom Thurmond (.xlsx file for €15)States’ Rights/DemocraticThomas E. DeweyRepublicanHarry S. TrumanDemocraticHenry A. WallaceProgressiveMarginTotal votescast # % # % # % # % # % Abbeville 787 73.97% 23 2.16% 254 23.87% 0 0.00% 533 50.09% 1,064 Aiken 4,607 86.94% 115 2.17% 572 10.79% 5 0.09% 4,035 76.15% 5,299 Allendale 1,041 93.78% 14 1.26% 55 4.95% 0 0.00% 986 88.83% 1,110 Anderson 1,342 33.32% 105 2.61% 2,581 64.08% 0 0.00% -1,239 -30.76% 4,028 Bamberg 1,714 91.51% 34 1.82% 124 6.62% 1 0.05% 1,590 84.89% 1,873 Barnwell 1,920 93.02% 28 1.36% 115 5.57% 1 0.05% 1,805 87.45% 2,064 Beaufort 850 67.62% 150 11.93% 253 20.13% 4 0.32% 597 47.49% 1,257 Berkeley 1,534 79.94% 58 3.02% 323 16.83% 4 0.21% 1,211 63.11% 1,919 Calhoun 840 95.35% 4 0.45% 36 4.09% 1 0.11% 804 91.26% 881 Charleston 10,603 76.32% 562 4.05% 2,660 19.15% 68 0.49% 7,943 57.17% 13,893 Cherokee 1,075 61.15% 77 4.38% 605 34.41% 1 0.06% 470 26.73% 1,758 Chester 1,527 75.89% 48 2.39% 436 21.67% 1 0.05% 1,091 54.22% 2,012 Chesterfield 1,554 62.21% 31 1.24% 912 36.51% 1 0.04% 642 25.70% 2,498 Clarendon 1,467 92.26% 16 1.01% 107 6.73% 0 0.00% 1,360 85.53% 1,590 Colleton 2,337 89.92% 39 1.50% 223 8.58% 0 0.00% 2,114 81.14% 2,599 Darlington 1,930 69.93% 104 3.77% 726 26.30% 0 0.00% 1,204 43.63% 2,760 Dillon 967 53.72% 24 1.33% 808 44.89% 1 0.06% 159 8.83% 1,800 Dorchester 2,717 92.10% 85 2.88% 143 4.85% 5 0.17% 2,574 87.25% 2,950 Edgefield 1,797 98.20% 6 0.33% 27 1.48% 0 0.00% 1,770 96.72% 1,830 Fairfield 1,073 79.54% 63 4.67% 211 15.64% 2 0.15% 862 63.90% 1,349 Florence 3,729 72.97% 192 3.76% 1,189 23.27% 0 0.00% 2,540 49.71% 5,110 Georgetown 1,943 78.66% 92 3.72% 432 17.49% 3 0.12% 1,511 61.17% 2,470 Greenville 5,922 62.51% 789 8.33% 2,745 28.97% 18 0.19% 3,177 33.53% 9,474 Greenwood 2,508 83.21% 63 2.09% 440 14.60% 3 0.10% 2,068 68.61% 3,014 Hampton 1,530 94.33% 10 0.62% 81 4.99% 1 0.06% 1,449 89.33% 1,622 Horry 3,345 84.45% 113 2.85% 503 12.70% 0 0.00% 2,842 71.75% 3,961 Jasper 715 80.61% 31 3.49% 141 15.90% 0 0.00% 574 64.71% 887 Kershaw 1,615 82.15% 49 2.49% 302 15.36% 0 0.00% 1,313 66.79% 1,966 Lancaster 1,649 65.07% 30 1.18% 855 33.74% 0 0.00% 794 31.33% 2,534 Laurens 2,047 77.86% 69 2.62% 513 19.51% 0 0.00% 1,534 58.35% 2,629 Lee 1,155 86.65% 36 2.70% 142 10.65% 0 0.00% 1,013 75.99% 1,333 Lexington 2,237 78.19% 58 2.03% 566 19.78% 0 0.00% 1,671 58.41% 2,861 Marion 1,219 79.47% 14 0.91% 301 19.62% 0 0.00% 918 59.84% 1,534 Marlboro 1,083 73.23% 41 2.77% 354 23.94% 1 0.07% 729 49.29% 1,479 McCormick 713 95.96% 0 0.00% 30 4.04% 0 0.00% 683 91.92% 743 Newberry 2,758 87.25% 47 1.49% 349 11.04% 7 0.22% 2,409 76.21% 3,161 Oconee 1,155 59.02% 135 6.90% 666 34.03% 1 0.05% 489 24.99% 1,957 Orangeburg 3,160 83.98% 164 4.36% 435 11.56% 4 0.11% 2,725 72.42% 3,763 Pickens 1,344 69.14% 165 8.49% 435 22.38% 0 0.00% 909 46.76% 1,944 Richland 6,096 66.32% 670 7.29% 2,419 26.32% 7 0.08% 3,677 40.00% 9,192 Saluda 1,712 89.45% 15 0.78% 187 9.77% 0 0.00% 1,525 79.68% 1,914 Spartanburg 4,660 38.70% 627 5.21% 6,741 55.98% 13 0.11% -2,081 -17.28% 12,041 Sumter 2,718 78.17% 154 4.43% 605 17.40% 0 0.00% 2,113 60.77% 3,477 Union 2,090 61.13% 46 1.35% 1,283 37.53% 0 0.00% 807 23.60% 3,419 Williamsburg 1,839 92.46% 23 1.16% 126 6.33% 1 0.05% 1,713 86.12% 1,989York 1,983 55.67% 167 4.69% 1,412 39.64% 0 0.00% 571 16.03% 3,562Totals102,60771.97%5,3863.78%34,42324.14%1540.11%68,18447.82%142,570

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Dixiecrat

Florence Horry McCormick Marlboro Abbeville Barnwell Cherokee Chester Chesterfield Darlington Dillon Greenwood Lancaster Laurens Oconee Saluda Union York Aiken Allendale Bamberg Beaufort Berkeley Charleston Calhoun Clarendon Colleton Dorchester Edgefield Fairfield Greenville Georgetown Hampton Jasper Kershaw Lexington Lee Marion Newberry Orangeburg Pickens Richland Sumter Williamsburg

Analysis Thurmond won his native state by a margin of 47.83 points, making him the first third-party candidate to carry the state since Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge in 1860. This was the first time the state voted against the Democrats since 1876, and Truman was the first Democrat to win without the state since 1836.

Significant opposition to Thurmond came from the poor whites of the industrial upcountry, who rejected the Dixiecrats' opposition to public works and labor regulation.Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority; pp. 262-265 Many upcountry county parties and newspapers, especially in the two counties that backed Truman over Thurmond, alongside Senator Olin D. Johnston, also rejected bolting from the national party.

However, sufficiently few of these poorer whites voted that Thurmond was able to easily carry South Carolina, winning 44 of the state's 46 counties and over 71 percent of the total presidential vote. Thurmond exceeded 72 percent in all but twelve counties, and passed ninety percent in ten. This was the first time any county in South Carolina had voted against the national Democrats since 1900.

See also United States presidential elections in South Carolina

Notes

References

Works cited