The 1888 United States presidential election was the 26th quadrennial
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1888.
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nominee
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, a former Senator from
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, defeated incumbent
Democratic President
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
of
New York. It was the third of five U.S. presidential elections (and second within 12 years)
in which the winner did not win the national popular vote, which would not occur again until the
2000 US presidential election
The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican candidate George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush ...
.
Cleveland, the first Democratic president since the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, was unanimously re-nominated at the
1888 Democratic National Convention. Harrison, the grandson of former President
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
, emerged as the Republican nominee on the eighth ballot of the
1888 Republican National Convention
The 1888 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for presid ...
. He defeated other prominent party leaders such as Senator
John Sherman
John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...
and former
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Russell Alger
Russell Alexander Alger (February 27, 1836 – January 24, 1907) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 20th Governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of War.
He was supposedly a distant relation of author H ...
.
Tariff policy was the principal issue in the election, as Cleveland had proposed a dramatic reduction in tariffs, arguing that high tariffs were unfair to consumers. Harrison took the side of industrialists and factory workers who wanted to keep tariffs high. Cleveland's opposition to Civil War
pensions and inflated currency also made enemies among veterans and farmers. On the other hand, he held a strong hand in the South and border states, and appealed to former Republican
Mugwump
The Mugwumps were Republican political activists in the United States who were intensely opposed to political corruption. They were never formally organized. Typically they switched parties from the Republican Party by supporting Democratic ...
s.
Cleveland won a plurality of the popular vote, but Harrison won the election with a majority in the
Electoral College. Harrison swept almost the entire North and Midwest, including narrowly carrying the swing states of New York and Indiana. This was the first time that Democrats won the popular vote in consecutive elections since 1856.
Nominations
Republican Party nomination
The Republican candidates were former Senator Benjamin Harrison from Indiana; Senator
John Sherman
John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...
from Ohio;
Russell A. Alger
Russell Alexander Alger (February 27, 1836 – January 24, 1907) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 20th Governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of War.
He was supposedly a distant relation of author H ...
, the former
governor of Michigan;
Walter Q. Gresham from Indiana, the former
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
; Senator
William B. Allison
William Boyd Allison (March 2, 1829 – August 4, 1908) was an American politician. An early leader of the Iowa Republican Party, he represented northeastern Iowa in the United States House of Representatives before representing his state in th ...
from Iowa; and
Chauncey Depew
Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, as ...
from New York, the president of the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...
.
By the time Republicans met in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
on June 19–25, 1888, frontrunner
James G. Blaine had withdrawn from the race because he believed that only a harmonious convention would produce a Republican candidate strong enough to upset incumbent President Cleveland. Blaine realized that the party was unlikely to choose him without a bitter struggle. After he withdrew, Blaine expressed confidence in both Benjamin Harrison and John Sherman. Harrison was nominated on the eighth ballot.
The Republicans chose Harrison because of his war record, his popularity with veterans, his ability to express the Republican Party's views, and the fact that he lived in the swing state of Indiana. The Republicans hoped to win Indiana's 15 electoral votes, which had gone to Cleveland in the previous presidential election.
Levi P. Morton, a former New York City congressman and ambassador, was nominated for vice-president over
William Walter Phelps
William Walter Phelps (August 24, 1839 – June 17, 1894) was a United States Congressman and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Germany and Austria-Hungary.
He was the son of John Jay Phelps, a successful New York City ...
, his nearest rival.
Democratic Party nomination
Democratic candidates:
File:StephenGroverCleveland.jpg, President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
The Democratic National Convention held in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, on June 5–7, 1888, was harmonious. Incumbent President Cleveland was re-nominated unanimously without a formal ballot. This was the first time an incumbent Democratic president had been re-nominated since
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
in
1840
Events
January–March
* January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded.
* January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom.
* Janu ...
.
After Cleveland was re-nominated, Democrats had to choose a replacement for
Thomas A. Hendricks
Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...
. Hendricks ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for vice-president in
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...
, but won the office when he ran again with Cleveland in
1884
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London.
* January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's '' Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London.
* January 18 – Dr. William Price at ...
. Hendricks served as vice-president for only eight months before he died in office on November 25, 1885. Former Senator
Allen G. Thurman from Ohio was nominated for vice-president over
Isaac P. Gray, his nearest rival, and
John C. Black
John Charles Black (January 27, 1839 – August 17, 1915) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from Illinois. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions as a Union Army lieutenant colonel and regimental commander at the Battle of Prairie Grove ...
, who trailed behind. Gray lost the nomination to Thurman primarily because his enemies brought up his actions while a Republican.
The Democratic platform largely confined itself to a defense of the Cleveland administration, supporting reduction in the tariff and taxes generally as well as statehood for the western territories.
Prohibition Party nomination
Nominees
The 5th Prohibition Party National Convention assembled in
Tomlinson Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana. There were 1,029 delegates from all but three states.
Clinton B. Fisk was nominated for president unanimously.
John A. Brooks was nominated for vice-president.
Union Labor Party nomination
Nominees
The Union Labor Party National Convention assembled in Cincinnati, Ohio. The
Union Labor Party had been formed in 1887 in Cincinnati.
The convention nominated
Alson Streeter
Alson Jenness Streeter (January 18, 1823 – November 24, 1901) was an American farmer, miner and politician who was the Union Labor Party nominee in the United States presidential election of 1888. He was also an early member of the National Gra ...
for president unanimously. He was so widely popular that no ballot was necessary, instead, he was nominated by acclamation. Samuel Evans was nominated for vice president but declined the nomination.
Charles E. Cunningham was later selected as the vice-presidential candidate.
The Union Labor Party garnered nearly 150,000 popular votes, but failed to gain widespread national support. The party did, however, win two counties.
United Labor Party nomination
The United Labor Party convention nominated Robert H. Cowdrey for president on the first ballot. W.H.T. Wakefield of Kansas was nominated for vice-president over Victor H. Wilder from New York by a margin of 50–12.
Greenback Party
The
Greenback Party
The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...
was in decline throughout the entire Cleveland administration. In the
election of 1884, the party failed to win any
House seats outright, although they did win one seat in conjunction with Plains States Democrats (
James B. Weaver) and a handful of other seats by endorsing the Democratic nominee. In the
election of 1886, only two dozen Greenback candidates ran for the House, apart from another six who ran on fusion tickets. Again, Weaver was the party's only victor. Much of the Greenback news in early 1888 took place in Michigan, where the party remained active.
In early 1888, it was not clear if the Greenback Party would hold another national convention. The fourth Greenback Party National Convention assembled in Cincinnati on May 16, 1888. So few delegates attended that no actions were taken. On August 16, 1888, George O. Jones, chairman of the national committee, called a second session of the national convention. The second session of the national convention met in Cincinnati on September 12, 1888. Only seven delegates attended. Chairman Jones issued an address criticizing the two major parties, and the delegates made no nominations.
With the failure of the convention, the Greenback Party ceased to exist.
American Party nomination
The American Party held its third and last National Convention in Grand Army Hall in Washington, DC. This was an
Anti-Masonic party that ran under various party labels in the northern states.
When the convention assembled, there were 126 delegates; among them were 65 from New York and 15 from California. Delegates from the other states bolted the convention when it appeared that New York and California intended to vote together on all matters and control the convention. By the time the presidential balloting began, there were only 64 delegates present.
The convention nominated James L. Curtis from New York for president and James R. Greer from Tennessee for vice-president. Greer declined to run, so
Peter D. Wigginton of California was chosen as his replacement.
Equal Rights Party nomination
The second Equal Rights Party National Convention assembled in Des Moines, Iowa. At the convention, mail-in ballots were counted. The delegates cast 310 of their 350 ballots for the following ticket:
Belva A. Lockwood
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United Sta ...
for president and
Alfred H. Love for vice-president. Love declined the nomination, and was replaced with Charles S. Welles of NY.
Industrial Reform Party nomination
The Industrial Reform Party National Convention assembled in Grand Army Hall, Washington, DC. There were 49 delegates present. Albert Redstone won the endorsement of some leaders of the disintegrating Greenback Party. He told the ''
Montgomery Advertiser
The ''Montgomery Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper and news website located in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1829.
History
The newspaper began publication in 1829 as ''The Planter's Gazette.'' Its first editor was Moseley Baker. It ...
'' that he hoped to carry several states, including Alabama, New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.
General election campaign
Issues
![1888TariffReform](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/1888TariffReform.png)
Cleveland set the main issue of the campaign when he proposed a dramatic reduction in tariffs in his
annual message to Congress in December 1887. Cleveland contended that the tariff was unnecessarily high and that unnecessary taxation was unjust taxation. The Republicans responded that the high tariff would protect American industry from foreign competition and guarantee high wages, high profits, and high economic growth.
The argument between
protectionists and free traders over the size of the tariff was an old one, stretching back to the
Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816, also known as the Dallas Tariff, is notable as the first tariff passed by Congress with an explicit function of protecting U.S. manufactured items from overseas competition. Prior to the War of 1812, tariffs had primarily s ...
. In practice, the tariff was practically meaningless on industrial products, since the United States was the low-cost producer in most areas (except woolens), and could not be undersold by the less efficient Europeans. Nevertheless, the tariff issue motivated both sides to a remarkable extent.
Besides the obvious economic dimensions, the tariff argument also possessed an ethnic dimension. At the time, the policy of
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
was most strongly promoted by the British Empire, and so any political candidate who ran on free trade instantly was under threat of being labelled pro-British and antagonistic to the
Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
voting bloc. Cleveland neatly neutralized this threat by pursuing punitive action against Canada (which, although autonomous, was still part of the British Empire) in a fishing rights dispute.
Harrison was well-funded by party activists and mounted an energetic campaign by the standards of the day, giving many speeches from his front porch in Indianapolis that were covered by the newspapers. Cleveland adhered to the tradition of presidential candidates not campaigning, and forbade his cabinet from campaigning as well, leaving his 75-year-old vice-presidential candidate Thurman as the spearhead of his campaign.
Blocks of Five
William Wade Dudley
William Wade Dudley (August 27, 1842 – December 15, 1909) was an American lawyer, politician, and Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He was United States Commissioner of Pensions under presidents James A. Garfield and Chester ...
(1842–1909), an Indianapolis lawyer, was a tireless campaigner and prosecutor of Democratic election frauds. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison made Dudley Treasurer of the Republican National Committee. The campaign was the most intense in decades, with Indiana dead even. Although the National Committee had no business meddling in state politics, Dudley wrote a circular letter to Indiana's county chairmen, telling them to "divide the floaters into Blocks of Five, and put a trusted man with the necessary funds in charge of these five, and make them responsible that none get away and that all vote our ticket." Dudley promised adequate funding. His pre-emptive strike backfired when Democrats obtained the letter and distributed hundreds of thousands of copies nationwide in the last days of the campaign. Given Dudley's unsavory reputation, few people believed his denials. A few thousand "floaters" did exist in Indiana—men who would sell their vote for $2. They always divided 50-50 (or perhaps, $5,000-$5,000) and had no visible impact on the vote. The attack on "blocks of five" with the suggestion that pious General Harrison was trying to buy the election did enliven the Democratic campaign, and it stimulated the nationwide movement to replace ballots printed and distributed by the parties with
secret ballots.
Murchison letter
A California Republican named George Osgoodby wrote a letter to Sir
Lionel Sackville-West, the
British ambassador to the United States
The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America.
T ...
, under the assumed name of "Charles F. Murchison," describing himself as a former Englishman who was now a California citizen and asked how he should vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sir Lionel wrote back and in the "
Murchison letter
The Murchison letter was a political scandal during the 1888 US presidential election between Grover Cleveland, the Democratic incumbent, and the Republican nominee, Benjamin Harrison. The letter was sent by Sir Lionel Sackville-West to "Charles ...
" indiscreetly suggested that Cleveland was probably the best man from the British point of view.
The Republicans published this letter just two weeks before the election, where it had an effect on Irish-American voters exactly comparable to the "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" blunder of the
previous election: Cleveland lost New York and Indiana (and as a result, the presidency). Sackville-West was removed as British ambassador.
Election results
![PresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/PresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif)
The election focused on the swing states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Harrison's home state of Indiana. Harrison and Cleveland split these four states, with Harrison winning by means of notoriously fraudulent balloting in New York and Indiana. The Republicans won in twenty-six of the forty-four largest cities outside of the Southern United States.
Had Cleveland won his home state, he would have won the electoral vote by an electoral count of 204-197 (201 electoral votes were needed for victory in 1888). Instead, Cleveland became the third of only five candidates to obtain a
plurality or majority of the popular vote but lose their respective presidential elections (
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
in
1824,
Samuel J. Tilden in
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...
,
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
).
Cleveland bested Harrison in the
popular vote
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
by slightly more than ninety thousand votes (0.8%), though that margin was only made possible by massive
disenfranchisement
Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
and
voter suppression
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...
of hundreds of thousands of Republican blacks in the South. Harrison won the
Electoral College by a 233-168 margin, largely by virtue of his 1.09% win in Cleveland's home state of New York.
Four states returned results where the winner won by less than 1 percent of the popular vote. Cleveland earned 24 of his electoral votes from states he won by less than one percent: Connecticut, Virginia, and West Virginia. Harrison earned fifteen of his electoral votes from a state he won by less than 1 percent: Indiana. Harrison won New York (36 electoral votes) by a margin of 1.09%. Despite the narrow margins in several states, only two states switched sides in comparison to Cleveland's
first presidential election (New York and Indiana).
Of the 2,450 counties/independent cities making returns, Cleveland led in 1,290 (52.65%) while Harrison led in 1,157 (47.22%). Two counties (0.08%) recorded a Streeter plurality while
one county (0.04%) in California split evenly between Cleveland and Harrison.
Upon leaving the White House at the end of her husband's first term,
First Lady Frances Cleveland
Frances Clara Cleveland Preston (née Folsom born as Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was an American socialite, education activist, and the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889, and again from 1893 to 1897 as t ...
is reported to have told the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
staff to take care of the building since the Clevelands would be returning in four years. She proved correct, becoming the only First Lady to preside at two nonconsecutive administrations.
This was the last election in which the Republicans won Colorado and Nevada until 1904. It was also the last election until 1968 when bellwether
Coös County, New Hampshire, did not support the winning candidate. This was the first time in American history that a party was voted out after a single four-year term, this would occur again in 1892, but not for Democrats until 1980.
Source (Popular Vote):
Source (Electoral Vote):
Geography of results
File:1888 United States presidential election results map by county.svg, Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
Cartographic gallery
File:PresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Map of presidential election results by county
File:DemocraticPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Map of Democratic presidential election results by county
File:RepublicanPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Map of Republican presidential election results by county
File:OtherPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Map of "other" presidential election results by county
File:CartogramPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Cartogram
A cartogram (also called a value-area map or an anamorphic map, the latter common among German-speakers) is a thematic map of a set of features (countries, provinces, etc.), in which their geographic size is altered to be directly proportiona ...
of presidential election results by county
File:CartogramDemocraticPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Cartogram of Democratic presidential election results by county
File:CartogramRepublicanPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Cartogram of Republican presidential election results by county
File:CartogramOtherPresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif, Cartogram of "other" presidential election results by county
Results by state
Source: Data from
Walter Dean Burnham, ''Presidential ballots, 1836–1892'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1955) pp 247–57.
Close states
Margin of victory less than 1% (39 electoral votes):
#
Connecticut, 0.22% (336 votes)
#
West Virginia, 0.32% (506 votes)
#
Indiana, 0.44% (2,348 votes)
#
Virginia, 0.53% (1,605 votes)
Margin of victory between 1% and 5% (150 electoral votes):
# ''
New York, 1.09% (14,373 votes) (tipping point state)''
#
Ohio, 2.33% (19,599 votes)
#
New Jersey, 2.35% (7,148 votes)
#
New Hampshire, 2.50% (2,272 votes)
#
California, 2.82% (7,087 votes)
#
Maryland, 2.94% (6,202 votes)
#
Illinois, 2.96% (22,124 votes)
#
North Carolina, 4.59% (13,118 votes)
#
Michigan, 4.82% (22,918 votes)
#
Missouri, 4.93% (25,691 votes)
Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (93 electoral votes):
#
Wisconsin, 6.01% (21,321 votes)
#
Tennessee, 6.49% (19,721 votes)
#
Iowa, 7.85% (31,726 votes)
#
Pennsylvania, 7.97% (79,458 votes)
#
Kentucky, 8.32% (28,692 votes)
#
Massachusetts, 9.38% (32,302 votes)
In popular culture
In 1968 the Michael P. Antoine Company produced the
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
musical film ''
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
''The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band'' is a 1968 American comedy musical western film from Walt Disney Productions. Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, the film is based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael ...
'' which centers around the election of 1888 and the annexing and subdividing of the
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...
into states (which was a major issue of the election).
See also
*
American election campaigns in the 19th century
In the 19th century, a number of new methods for conducting American election campaigns developed in the United States. For the most part the techniques were original, not copied from Europe or anywhere else. The campaigns were also changed by a g ...
*
History of the United States (1865–1918)
The history of the United States from 1865 until 1918 covers the Reconstruction Era, the Gilded Age, and the Progressive Era, and includes the rise of industrialization and the resulting surge of immigration in the United States. This article foc ...
*
1888 United States House of Representatives elections
The 1888 United States House of Representatives elections were held at the same time as the election of President Benjamin Harrison.
Harrison's Republican Party gained a majority in the House at the expense of the Democratic Party, even though ...
*
1888 and 1889 United States Senate elections
*
History of the United States Democratic Party
*
History of the United States Republican Party
*
Inauguration of Benjamin Harrison
The inauguration of Benjamin Harrison as the 23rd president of the United States took place on Monday, March 4, 1889, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 26th inauguration and marked the commencement ...
*
Third Party System
In the terminology of historians and political scientists, the Third Party System was a period in the history of political parties in the United States from the 1850s until the 1890s, which featured profound developments in issues of American n ...
Footnotes
References
Secondary sources
*
* Bourdon, Jeffrey Normand. "Trains, Canes, and Replica Log Cabins: Benjamin Harrison's 1888 Front-Porch Campaign for the Presidency." ''Indiana Magazine of History'' 110.3 (2014): 246–269
online*
*
*
*
online free*
*
Nevins, Allan. ''Grover Cleveland: a study in courage'' (1933), the standard biography
* Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. ''A History of the United States since the Civil War. Volume V, 1888–1901'' (1937). pp 1–74.
*
*
* Sievers, Harry. '' Benjamin Harrison: from the Civil War to the White House, 1865–1888'' (1959), standard biography
*
*
excerpt and text search
Primary sources
*
* ''The campaign text book of the Democratic party of the United States, for ...1888'' (1888
full text online the compilation of data, texts and political arguments used by stump speakers across the country
* Cleveland, Grover. ''Letters and Addresses of Grover Cleveland'' (1909
online edition* Cleveland, Grover. ''The Letters of Grover Cleveland'' (1937), edited by Allan Nevins.
* Harrison, Benjamin. ''Speeches of Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States'' (1890), contains his 1888 campaign speeche
full text online* Chester, Edward W ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977
online* Porter, Kirk H. and Donald Bruce Johnson, eds. ''National party platforms, 1840–1964'' (1965
online 1840–1956
External links
from the Library of Congress
Election of 1888 in Counting the VotesThe Vote That Failed ''Smithsonian Magazine'' article on Indiana in the 1888 election.
{{Authority control
Grover Cleveland
Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
November 1888 events