United States presidential election, 1908

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The U.S. presidential election of 1908 was held on November 3, 1908. It was not a close race. Popular incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt, honoring a promise not to seek a third term, anointed William Howard Taft as his successor. The Democrats nominated a candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who had been defeated in two previous outings against Republican William McKinley. Taft defeated Bryan in the election.

Contents 1 Nominations 1.1 Republican Party nomination 1.2 Democratic Party nomination 2 General election 2.1 Campaign 2.2 Results 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 External links 6 Navigation

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Republican Party nomination

The 1908 Republican Convention was held in Chicago from 16 June to 19 June. Prominent Republican candidates included House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois, Charles Evans Hughes of New York, and Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, but William Howard Taft, the Secretary of War, prevailed with the backing of outgoing President Theodore Roosevelt.

[edit] Democratic Party nomination

The 1908 Democratic Convention was held in Denver from 7 July to 10 July. Despite a challenge by Minnesota governor John Albert Johnson, two time previous nominee William Jennings Bryan quickly won the overwhelming support of his party.

[edit] General election

[edit] Campaign

With the silver issue no longer dominant, Bryan campaigned on a progressive platform attacking "government by privilege". Taft also took many reform positions, and Bryan's support for many of Roosevelt's policies blurred the distinctions between the parties. Business continued to support Taft, and Bryan failed to secure labor. As a result, Bryan ended up with the second worst of his three defeats, losing almost all the Northern states to Taft and losing the popular vote by eight percent.

[edit] Results

(46 States participated, as Oklahoma had joined the Union the year before)

Presidential Candidate	Party	Home State	Popular Vote		Electoral Vote	Running Mate	Running Mate's Home State	Running Mate's Electoral Vote
			Count	Percentage
William Howard Taft	Republican	Ohio	7,678,395	51.6%	321	James Schoolcraft Sherman	New York	321
William Jennings Bryan	Democratic	Nebraska	6,408,984	43.0%	162	John Worth Kern	Indiana	162
Eugene Victor Debs	Socialist	Indiana	420,852	2.8%	0	Benjamin Hanford	New York	0
Eugene Wilder Chafin	Prohibition	Illinois	254,087	1.7%	0	Aaron Sherman Watkins	Ohio	0
Thomas Louis Hisgen	Independence	Massachusetts	82,571	0.6%	0	John Temple Graves	Georgia	0
Thomas Edward Watson	Populist	Georgia	28,822	0.2%	0	Samuel Williams	Indiana	0
Other			15,550	0.1%	0	Other		0
Total			14,889,261	100.0%	483	Total		483
Needed to win					242	Needed to win		242

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1908 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (July 28, 2005).

Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 31, 2005).

[edit] See also

• President of the United States
• History of the United States (1865-1918)

[edit] Further reading

• Daniels, Josephus (July–December 1908). "Mr. Bryan's Third Campaign". Review of Reviews 38: 423–31.

[edit] External links

• 1908 popular vote by counties

[edit] Navigation

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