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{{Short description|none}} {{for|related races|1888 United States elections}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}} {{Infobox election | election_name = 1888 United States presidential election | country = United States | flag_year = 1877 | type = presidential | ongoing = no | previous_election = 1884 United States presidential election | previous_year = 1884 | election_date = November 6, 1888 | next_election = 1892 United States presidential election | next_year = 1892 | votes_for_election = 401 members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] | needed_votes = 201 electoral | turnout = 80.5%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789βPresent|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}}</ref> {{increase}} 3.0 [[percentage point|pp]] | image_size = x200px | image1 = Pach Brothers - Benjamin Harrison (3x4 close cropped).jpg| nominee1 = '''[[Benjamin Harrison]]''' | party1 = Republican Party (United States) | home_state1 = [[Indiana]] | running_mate1 = '''[[Levi P. Morton]]''' | electoral_vote1 = '''233''' | states_carried1 = '''20''' | popular_vote1 = 5,443,892 | percentage1 = 47.8% | image2 = Stephen Grover Cleveland Portrait (3x4 close cropped).jpg | nominee2 = [[Grover Cleveland]] | party2 = Democratic Party (United States) | home_state2 = [[New York (state)|New York]] | running_mate2 = [[Allen G. Thurman]] | electoral_vote2 = 168 | states_carried2 = 18 | popular_vote2 = '''5,534,488''' | percentage2 = '''48.6%''' | map_size = 350px | map = {{1888 United States presidential election imagemap}} | map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:red;">Red</span> denotes those won by Harrison/Morton, <span style="color:blue;">blue</span> denotes states won by Cleveland/Thurman. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | title = President | before_election = [[Grover Cleveland]] | before_party = Democratic Party (United States) | after_election = [[Benjamin Harrison]] | after_party = Republican Party (United States) }} [[United States presidential election|Presidential elections]] were held in the [[United States]] on November 6, 1888. [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee [[Benjamin Harrison]], a former U.S. senator from [[Indiana]], defeated incumbent [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] President [[Grover Cleveland]] of [[New York (state)|New York]]. It was the third of five U.S. presidential elections (and second within 12 years) [[United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote|in which the winner did not win the national popular vote]], which would not occur again until [[2000 US presidential election|2000]]. Cleveland, only the second Democratic president since the [[American Civil War]] (the first being [[Andrew Johnson]]) and the first elected as president (Johnson assumed office after Lincoln's assassination, and left at the end of the term), was unanimously renominated at the [[1888 Democratic National Convention]]. Harrison, the grandson of former President [[William Henry Harrison]], emerged as the Republican nominee on the eighth ballot of the [[1888 Republican National Convention]]. He defeated other prominent party leaders such as Ohio Senator [[John Sherman]] and former [[Governor of Michigan|Michigan Governor]] [[Russell A. Alger|Russell Alger]]. [[Tariffs in United States history|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 [[American Civil War]] [[pension]]s and inflated currency also made enemies among veterans and farmers. On the other hand, he held a strong hand in the [[Southern United States]] and the [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]], and appealed to former Republican [[Mugwump]]s. Cleveland won a narrow plurality of the popular vote, in large part due to the [[Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement]] of Black citizens (who mostly favored Harrison) in the South,{{efn|Multiple references<ref name="Geruso" /><ref name="Beatty">Beatty, Bess (1987). ''A revolution gone backward: the Black response to national politics, 1876-1896''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Inc., [https://books.google.com/books?id=z7TOEAAAQBAJ p. 104].</ref><ref name="Gorman" />}} but Harrison won the election with a majority in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]], marking the only time (as of 2024) that an incumbent president lost a reelection bid despite winning the popular vote. Harrison swept almost the entire North and Midwest, including narrowly carrying the swing states of New York and Indiana. This was the first time since 1856 that Democrats won the popular vote in consecutive elections. This was the first election since [[1840 United States presidential election|1840]] in which an incumbent president lost reelection. Cleveland was the last incumbent Democratic president to lose reelection until [[Jimmy Carter]] in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]]. == Nominations == === Republican Party nomination === {{Main|1888 Republican National Convention}} {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" |- | style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Republican Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party (United States)]]<big>'''1888 Republican Party ticket'''</big> |- ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Benjamin Harrison|{{color|white|Benjamin Harrison}}]] ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Levi P. Morton|{{color|white|Levi P. Morton}}]] |- style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#FFD0D7;" | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President''''' | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President''''' |- | [[File:BHarrison.jpg|center|200x200px]] | [[File:Levi P. Morton (US vice president, NY governor) (cropped).jpg|center|200x200px]] |- | [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]<br />from [[Indiana]]<br /><small>(1881β1887)</small> | [[United States Ambassador to France]]<br><small>(1881β1885)</small> |- | colspan=2 |[[File:1888RepublicanPoster.png|400px]] |- |} [[File:Yale Publishing Co, The Whole Story in a Nutshell! 1888 Cornell CUL PJM 1096 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Grover Cleveland-Benjamin Harrison presidential (1888) campaign poster about the trade policy of the two candidates. The map supports the work of the Harrison campaign.]] [[File:Man leaning on Harrison and Morton campaign ball - DPLA - a27b2709ebe10fd09bba14fdf2c0e602.jpg|left|thumb|278x278px|Man leaning on Harrison and Morton campaign ball.]] The Republican candidates were former Senator Benjamin Harrison from Indiana; Senator [[John Sherman]] from Ohio; [[Russell A. Alger]], the former [[governor of Michigan]]; [[Walter Q. Gresham]] from Indiana, the former [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]; Senator [[William B. Allison]] from Iowa; and [[Chauncey Depew]] from New York, the president of the [[New York Central Railroad]]. By the time Republicans met in [[Chicago]] on June 19β25, 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]], his nearest rival. {{Clear}} === Democratic Party nomination === {{Main|1888 Democratic National Convention}} {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" |- | style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Democratic Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party (United States)]]<big>'''1888 Democratic Party ticket'''</big> |- ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Grover Cleveland|{{color|white|Grover Cleveland}}]] ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Allen G. Thurman|{{color|white|Allen G. Thurman}}]] |- | style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|'''''for President''''' | style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President''''' |- | [[File:GorverCleveland1888(Full).png|200x200px]] | [[File:AllenGThurman.png|center|200x200px]] |- | [[List of presidents of the United States|22nd]]<br>[[President of the United States]]<br><small>(1885β1889)</small> | [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Ohio]]<br><small>(1869β1881)</small> |- | colspan=2 |[[Grover Cleveland 1888 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']] |- | colspan=2 |[[File:1888DemocraticPoster.png|400px]] |- |} Democratic candidates: <gallery perrow="5" mode="packed" heights="160"> File:GorverCleveland1888(Full).png|[[President of the United States|President]] '''[[Grover Cleveland]]''' </gallery> The Democratic National Convention held in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], on June 5β7, 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]] in [[1840 United States presidential election|1840]]. After Cleveland was re-nominated, Democrats had to choose a replacement for [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]. Hendricks ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for vice-president in [[1876 United States presidential election|1876]], but won the office when he ran again with Cleveland in [[1884 United States presidential election|1884]]. 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]], who trailed behind. Gray lost the nomination to Thurman primarily because his opponents brought up his actions while a Republican.<ref>[[Jacob Piatt Dunn]], George William Harrison Kemper, ''Indiana and Indianans'' (p. 724).</ref> 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. {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="3" | '''Presidential Ballot''' |- !!! Unanimous |- ![[Grover Cleveland]] !!822 |} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="3" | '''Vice Presidential Ballot''' |- !!!1st!! Acclamation |- ![[Allen G. Thurman]] !!684!! 822 |- ![[Isaac P. Gray]] !!101!! |- ![[John C. Black]] !!36!! |- !Blank !!1!! |} === Prohibition Party nomination === {{Main|1888 Prohibition Party National Convention}} ==== Nominees ==== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" |- | style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1888 Prohibition Party ticket'''</big> |- ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF00FF; width:200px;"| [[Clinton B. Fisk|{{color|white|Clinton B. Fisk}}]] ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF00FF; width:200px;"| [[John A. Brooks|{{color|white|John A. Brooks}}]] |- style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ffa3ff;" | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President''''' | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President''''' |- | [[File:Clinton B. Fisk drawing.png|center|200x200px]] | [[File:John A. Brooks.png|center|200x200px]] |- |Brigadier General<br />from [[New Jersey]] |Pastor<br />from [[Missouri]] |- | colspan=2 |[[Clinton B. Fisk#Politics|'''Campaign''']] |- | colspan=2 |[[File:1888ProhibitionPoster.png|300px]] |} The 5th Prohibition Party National Convention assembled in [[Tomlinson Hall]] in Indianapolis, Indiana. There were 1,029 delegates from all but three states.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Case|first=George|year=1889|title=The Prohibition Party: Its Origin, Purpose and Growth|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=msu.31293017447214;view=1up;seq=789|journal=Magazine of Western History. V.9 1888/1889|volume=9|pages=707|via=Hathi Trust}}</ref> Clinton B. Fisk was nominated for president unanimously. [[John A. Brooks]] was nominated for vice-president.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgHCwAAQBAJ&q=fisk+brooks+1888+election&pg=PA157|title=President-Making in the Gilded Age: The Nominating Conventions of 1876β1900|last=Haynes|first=Stan M.|date=November 24, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476663128|pages=157|language=en}}</ref> === Union Labor Party nomination === ==== Nominees ==== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" |- | style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1888 Union Labor Party ticket'''</big> |- ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#0000FF; width:200px;"| [[Alson Streeter|{{color|white|Alson Streeter}}]] ! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#0000FF; width:200px;"| [[Charles E. Cunningham|{{color|white|Charles E. Cunningham}}]] |- style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#add8e6;" | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President''''' | style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President''''' |- | [[File:AlsonStreeter.png|center|200x200px]] | [[File:Charles E. Cunningham.jpg|center|200x200px]] |- |[[Illinois Senate|State Senator]]<br />from [[Illinois]] |Activist<br />from [[Arkansas]] |- | colspan=2 |[[Alson Streeter|'''Campaign''']] |- | colspan=2 |[[File:Union labor party LCCN2003656923.jpg|300px]] |} 300 to 600 delegates attended the Industrial Labor Conference in Cincinnati in February 1887, and formed the [[Labor Party (United States, 19th century)|Union Labor Party]]. Richard Trevellick, the chair of the conference, was a member of the [[Knights of Labor]] and former member of the [[Greenback Party]].{{sfn|Hild|2015|p=32}} The convention nominated [[Alson Streeter]] for president unanimously. He was so widely popular that no ballot was necessary, instead, he was nominated by acclamation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Newcombe |first=Alfred W. |date=March 1946 |title=Alson J. Streeter: An Agrarian Liberal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40188188 |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=71 |jstor=40188188 }}</ref> 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 50β12.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1888 |title=Setting Up a Candidate |pages=1 |work=The Topeka State Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/64784944/?terms=%22victor%20h.%20wilder%22&match=1 |access-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref> === Greenback Party === The [[Greenback Party]] was in decline throughout the entire Cleveland administration. In the [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1884|election of 1884]], the party failed to win any [[United States House of Representatives|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 [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1886|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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 17, 1888 |title=The Greenback Party: Mr. George O. Jones Calls a National Convention For Sept. 12 |pages=8 |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/94613866 |access-date=May 17, 2022|id={{ProQuest|94613866}} }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 13, 1888 |title=Seven Greenbackers Proclaim |pages=4 |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/94585439 |access-date=May 17, 2022|id={{ProQuest|94585439}} }}</ref> 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-Masonry|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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 16, 1888 |title=Who is James L. Curtis? |pages=1 |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/94623328 |access-date=May 17, 2022|id={{ProQuest|94623328}} }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="2" | '''Presidential Ballot''' |- !Candidate!!1st |- !James L. Curtis !!45 |- !Abram S. Hewitt !!15 |- !James S. Negley !!4 |} === 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]] for president and [[Alfred H. Love]] for vice-president.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 16, 1888 |title=Bound to Have Belva |pages=1 |work=Sioux City Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/416362385/?terms=%22equal%20rights%20party%22%20%22convention%22&match=1 |access-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref> Love declined the nomination, and was replaced with Charles S. Welles of New York.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Plumbe |editor-first=Geo. E. |title=The Daily News Almanac and Political Register |date=1890 |publisher=The Chicago Daily News |url=https://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/oca/Books2007-10/chicagodailynews/chicagodailynews1890chic/chicagodailynews1890chic.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/oca/Books2007-10/chicagodailynews/chicagodailynews1890chic/chicagodailynews1890chic.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |pages=57β8}}</ref> === 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 23, 1888 |title=First in the Field |pages=1 |work=The York Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/614470927/?terms=%22industrial%20reform%20party%22%20%22convention%22&match=1 |access-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref> He told the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' that he hoped to carry several states, including Alabama, New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1888 |title=Alabama's electoral vote has already been captured |pages=4 |work=[[The Montgomery Advertiser]] |url=https://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/261974266/?terms=%22industrial%20reform%20party%22&match=1 |access-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref> == General election campaign == {{Main|Grover Cleveland 1888 presidential campaign}} === Issues === [[File:1888TariffReform.png|thumb|250px|Tariff reform was the main issue of the election.]] Cleveland set the main issue of the campaign when he proposed a dramatic reduction in tariffs in his [[State of the Union address|annual message to Congress]] in December 1887. Cleveland contended that the tariff was unnecessarily high and that unnecessary taxation was unjust taxation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cleveland|first=Grover|date=6 December 1887|title=Third Annual Message (first term)|publisher=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley for [[the American Presidency Project]]|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/third-annual-message-first-term|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> The Republicans responded that the high tariff would protect American industry from foreign competition and guarantee high wages, high profits, and high economic growth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 1888|publisher=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley for [[the American Presidency Project]] |date=19 June 1888|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1888|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> The argument between [[protectionism|protectionists]] and free traders over the size of the tariff was an old one, stretching back to the [[Dallas tariff|Tariff of 1816]]. 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.<ref>Paul F. Boller Jr., ''Presidential Campaigns'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 157-59.</ref><ref>Reitano, Joanne. ''The Tariff Question in the Gilded Age: The Great Debate of 1888.'' University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.</ref> Besides the obvious economic dimensions, the tariff argument also possessed an ethnic dimension. At the time, the policy of [[free trade]] 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]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cleveland|first=Grover|date=20 February 1888|title=Special Message|publisher=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley for [[the American Presidency Project]]|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-1106|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=United States president scolds Pictou in 1886 correspondence|publisher=PNI Atlantic News|date=7 June 2014|url=https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/united-states-president-scolds-pictou-in-1886-correspondence-66225|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.harpweek.com/1888/Overview-1888-1.htm |title=HarpWeek | Elections | 1888 Overview |publisher=Elections.harpweek.com |access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> === Blocks of Five === [[William Wade Dudley]] (1842β1909), 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 Indianaβmen who would sell their vote for $2. They always divided 50β50 (or perhaps, $5,000β$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 ballot]]s.<ref>Jensen, ''Winning of the Midwest'' (1971) ch 1</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Vote That Failed|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vote-that-failed-159427766/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref> === Murchison letter === A California Republican named George Osgoodby wrote a letter to Sir [[Lionel Sackville-West, 2nd Baron Sackville|Lionel Sackville-West]], the [[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States|British ambassador to the United States]], 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]]" indiscreetly suggested that Cleveland was probably the best man from the British point of view.<ref>The Murchison Letter, as printed in the ''New York Herald'', October 23, 1888. Reprinted in ''Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Volume 2'', transmitted to Congress by the [[United States Department of State]]. [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]: [[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]], 1889. Page 1707.</ref> 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 [[1884 United States presidential election|previous election]]: Cleveland lost New York and Indiana (and as a result, the presidency). Sackville-West was removed as British ambassador.<ref>Charles S. Campbell, Jr. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1886600 "The Dismissal of Lord Sackville."] ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' '''44''':''4'' (March 1958), pp. 635β648.</ref> ==Results== [[File:PresidentialCounty1888Colorbrewer.gif|right|thumb|400px|Results by county indicating the percentage lead of each candidate in each county. Shades of blue are for Cleveland (Democratic), shades of red are for Harrison (Republican), and shades of green are for Streeter (Union Labor).]] 36.3% of the voting age population and 80.5% of eligible voters participated in the election.{{sfn|Abramson|Aldrich|Rohde|1995|p=99}} The election focused on the swing states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Harrison's home state of Indiana.{{sfn|Socolofsky|Spetter|1987|p=10}} Harrison and Cleveland split these four states, with Harrison winning by means of notoriously fraudulent balloting in New York and Indiana.{{sfn|Calhoun|2008|p=43}}{{failed verification|date=September 2024}}{{sfn|Socolofsky|Spetter|1987|p=13}} Meanwhile, Cleveland won every state in the [[Solid South|south]] via the disenfranchisement of much of the Southern black voter base. The Republicans won in twenty-six of the forty-four largest cities outside of the Southern United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Paul |date=1974 |title=Political Parties In American History, Volume 3, 1890-present |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]]}}</ref> Had Cleveland won his home state, he would have won the electoral vote by an electoral count of 204β197 (201 electoral votes were needed for victory in 1888). Instead, Cleveland became the third of only five candidates to obtain a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]] or majority of the popular vote but lose their respective presidential elections ([[Andrew Jackson]] in [[1824 United States presidential election|1824]], [[Samuel J. Tilden]] in [[1876 United States presidential election|1876]], [[Al Gore]] in [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]], and [[Hillary Clinton]] in [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]]). Cleveland bested Harrison in the [[Direct election|popular vote]] by slightly more than ninety thousand votes (0.8%), though that margin was only made possible by massive [[disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchisement]] and [[voter suppression]] of hundreds of thousands of Republican blacks in the South,<ref name="Geruso">{{Cite journal|last=Geruso|first=Michael|year=2022|title=Inversions in US Presidential Elections: 1836β2016|journal=Am Econ J Appl Econ |volume=14|issue=1 |pages=327β357|doi=10.1257/app.20200210 |pmid=38213750 |pmc=10782436 }}</ref> as was noted by Republican politicians at the time.<ref name="Gorman">Gorman, Joseph (1979). "The Election of 1888: Electoral College 'Misfire' or Reflection of the Popular Will?: An Analysis of Grover Cleveland's Popular Vote Pluralities in Selected Southern States." (For the Library of Congress.) ''Congressional Record'': Volume 125, Part 12 (June 13, 1979), [http://books.google.com/books?id=UIow7xssVpgC&pg=PA14627 pp. 14627β14638].</ref> Harrison won the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] by a 233β168 margin, largely by virtue of his 1.09% win in Cleveland's home state of New York. 14.18% of Harrison's votes came from the eleven states of the former Confederacy, with him taking 36.67% of the vote in that region.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|p=263}} 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 [[1884 United States presidential election|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 [[Trinity County, California|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 of the United States|First Lady]] [[Frances Cleveland]] is reported to have told the [[White House]] staff to take care of the building since the Clevelands would be returning in four years. She proved correct, becoming the first 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 [[CoΓΆs County, New Hampshire|CoΓΆs County]], New Hampshire, did not support the winning candidate.<ref>The Political Graveyard; [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NH/CO-votes.html CoΓΆs County Votes for President]</ref> This was the first time in American history that a party lost re-election after a single four-year term; this would occur again in 1892, but not for Democrats until 1980. [[File: United States Electoral College 1888.svg]] {{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Benjamin Harrison]]| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=[[Indiana]]| pv=5,443,892| pv_pct=47.80%| ev=233| vp_name=[[Levi P. Morton]]| vp_state=[[New York (state)|New York]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Grover Cleveland]] (incumbent)| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=5,534,488| pv_pct=48.63%| ev=168| vp_name=[[Allen G. Thurman]]| vp_state=[[Ohio]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Clinton B. Fisk]]| party=[[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]]| state=[[New Jersey]]| pv=249,819| pv_pct=2.20%| ev=0| vp_name=[[John A. Brooks]]| vp_state=[[Missouri]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Alson Streeter]]| party=[[Labor Party (United States, 19th century)|Union Labor]]| state=[[Illinois]]| pv=146,602| pv_pct=1.31%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Charles E. Cunningham]]| vp_state=[[Arkansas]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv=8,519| pv_pct=0.07%}} {{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=11,383,320| ev=401| to_win=201}} '''Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source| year=1888| as of=July 27, 2005}} '''Source (Electoral Vote):''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1888| as of=July 31, 2005}} {{bar box |title=Popular vote |titlebar=#ddd |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Cleveland'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|48.63}} {{bar percent|Harrison|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|47.80}} {{bar percent|Fisk|#ff9955|2.20}} {{bar percent|Streeter|#0BDA51|1.31}} {{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.07}} }} {{bar box |title=Electoral vote |titlebar=#ddd |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Harrison'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|58.10}} {{bar percent|Cleveland|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|41.90}} }} === Geography of results === [[File:1888 Electoral Map.png|650px|thumb|left]] <gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px"> File:1888 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote </gallery> ==== Cartographic gallery ==== <gallery perrow="4" widths="200px" heights="157px"> 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]] 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 </gallery> === Results by state === Source: Data from [[Walter Dean Burnham]], ''Presidential ballots, 1836β1892'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1955) pp 247β57.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1888&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1888 Presidential General Election Data β National|access-date=May 7, 2013}}</ref> {|class="wikitable" |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} |States/districts won by [[Grover Cleveland|Cleveland]]/[[Allen G. Thurman|Thurman]] |-{{Party shading/Republican}} |States/districts won by [[Benjamin Harrison|Harrison]]/[[Levi P. Morton|Morton]] |}<div style="overflow:auto"> {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right" |- ! colspan=2 | ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Grover Cleveland<br />Democratic ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Benjamin Harrison<br />Republican ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Clinton Fisk<br />Prohibition ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Alson Streeter<br />Union Labor ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Margin ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| State Total |- ! align=center | State ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | # ! |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]] | style="text-align:center;" | 10 | 117,314 | 67.00 | 10 | 57,177 | 32.66 | - | 594 | 0.34 | - | - | - | - | -60,137 | -34.35 | 175,085 | style="text-align:center;" | AL |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 7 | 86,062 | 54.80 | 7 | 59,752 | 38.04 | - | 614 | 0.39 | - | 10,630 | 6.77 | - | -26,310 | -16.75 | 157,058 | style="text-align:center;" | AR |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in California|California]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 117,729 | 46.84 | - | 124,816 | 49.66 | 8 | 5,761 | 2.29 | - | - | - | - | 7,087 | 2.82 | 251,339 | style="text-align:center;" | CA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 37,549 | 40.84 | - | 50,772 | 55.22 | 3 | 2,182 | 2.37 | - | 1,266 | 1.38 | - | 13,223 | 14.38 | 91,946 | style="text-align:center;" | CO |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 74,920 | 48.66 | 6 | 74,584 | 48.44 | - | 4,234 | 2.75 | - | 240 | 0.16 | - | -336 | -0.22 | 153,978 | style="text-align:center;" | CT |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 16,414 | 55.15 | 3 | 12,950 | 43.51 | - | 399 | 1.34 | - | - | - | - | -3,464 | -11.64 | 29,764 | style="text-align:center;" | DE |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 39,557 | 59.48 | 4 | 26,529 | 39.89 | - | 414 | 0.62 | - | - | - | - | -13,028 | -19.59 | 66,500 | style="text-align:center;" | FL |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 100,493 | 70.31 | 12 | 40,499 | 28.33 | - | 1,808 | 1.26 | - | 136 | 0.10 | - | -59,994 | -41.97 | 142,936 | style="text-align:center;" | GA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]] | style="text-align:center;" | 22 | 348,351 | 46.58 | - | 370,475 | 49.54 | 22 | 21,703 | 2.90 | - | 7,134 | 0.95 | - | 22,124 | 2.96 | 747,813 | style="text-align:center;" | IL |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]] | style="text-align:center;" | 15 | 261,013 | 48.61 | - | 263,361 | 49.05 | 15 | 9,881 | 1.84 | - | 2,694 | 0.50 | - | 2,348 | 0.44 | 536,949 | style="text-align:center;" | IN |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 179,877 | 44.51 | - | 211,603 | 52.36 | 13 | 3,550 | 0.88 | - | 9,105 | 2.25 | - | 31,726 | 7.85 | 404,135 | style="text-align:center;" | IA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 102,745 | 31.03 | - | 182,904 | 55.23 | 9 | 6,779 | 2.05 | - | 37,788 | 11.41 | - | 80,159 | 24.21 | 331,149 | style="text-align:center;" | KS |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 183,830 | 53.30 | 13 | 155,138 | 44.98 | - | 5,223 | 1.51 | - | 677 | 0.20 | - | -28,692 | -8.32 | 344,868 | style="text-align:center;" | KY |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 85,032 | 73.37 | 8 | 30,660 | 26.46 | - | 160 | 0.14 | - | 39 | 0.03 | - | -54,372 | -46.92 | 115,891 | style="text-align:center;" | LA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 50,472 | 39.35 | - | 73,730 | 57.49 | 6 | 2,691 | 2.10 | - | 1,344 | 1.05 | - | 23,258 | 18.13 | 128,253 | style="text-align:center;" | ME |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 106,188 | 50.34 | 8 | 99,986 | 47.40 | - | 4,767 | 2.26 | - | - | - | - | -6,202 | -2.94 | 210,941 | style="text-align:center;" | MD |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] | style="text-align:center;" | 14 | 151,590 | 44.04 | - | 183,892 | 53.42 | 14 | 8,701 | 2.53 | - | - | - | - | 32,302 | 9.38 | 344,243 | style="text-align:center;" | MA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 213,469 | 44.91 | - | 236,387 | 49.73 | 13 | 20,945 | 4.41 | - | 4,555 | 0.96 | - | 22,918 | 4.82 | 475,356 | style="text-align:center;" | MI |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]] | style="text-align:center;" | 7 | 104,385 | 39.65 | - | 142,492 | 54.12 | 7 | 15,311 | 5.82 | - | 1,097 | 0.42 | - | 38,107 | 14.47 | 263,285 | style="text-align:center;" | MN |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 85,451 | 73.80 | 9 | 30,095 | 25.99 | - | 240 | 0.21 | - | - | - | - | -55,356 | -47.81 | 115,786 | style="text-align:center;" | MS |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]] | style="text-align:center;" | 16 | 261,943 | 50.24 | 16 | 236,252 | 45.31 | - | 4,539 | 0.87 | - | 18,626 | 3.57 | - | -25,691 | -4.93 | 521,360 | style="text-align:center;" | MO |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]] | style="text-align:center;" | 5 | 80,552 | 39.75 | - | 108,425 | 53.51 | 5 | 9,429 | 4.65 | - | 4,226 | 2.09 | - | 27,873 | 13.76 | 202,632 | style="text-align:center;" | NE |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 5,149 | 41.94 | - | 7,088 | 57.73 | 3 | 41 | 0.33 | - | - | - | - | 1,939 | 15.79 | 12,278 | style="text-align:center;" | NV |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 43,456 | 47.84 | - | 45,728 | 50.34 | 4 | 1,593 | 1.75 | - | - | - | - | 2,272 | 2.50 | 90,835 | style="text-align:center;" | NH |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 151,508 | 49.87 | 9 | 144,360 | 47.52 | - | 7,933 | 2.61 | - | - | - | - | -7,148 | -2.35 | 303,801 | style="text-align:center;" | NJ |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in New York|New York]] | style="text-align:center;" | 36 | 635,965 | 48.19 | - | 650,338 | 49.28 | 36 | 30,231 | 2.29 | - | 627 | 0.05 | - | 14,373 | 1.09 | 1,319,748 | style="text-align:center;" | NY |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]] | style="text-align:center;" | 11 | 147,902 | 51.79 | 11 | 134,784 | 47.20 | - | 2,840 | 0.99 | - | - | - | - | -13,118 | -4.59 | 285,563 | style="text-align:center;" | NC |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]] | style="text-align:center;" | 23 | 396,455 | 47.18 | - | 416,054 | 49.51 | 23 | 24,356 | 2.90 | - | 3,496 | 0.42 | - | 19,599 | 2.33 | 840,361 | style="text-align:center;" | OH |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 26,522 | 42.88 | - | 33,291 | 53.82 | 3 | 1,677 | 2.71 | - | - | - | - | 6,769 | 10.94 | 61,853 | style="text-align:center;" | OR |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] | style="text-align:center;" | 30 | 446,633 | 44.77 | - | 526,091 | 52.74 | 30 | 20,947 | 2.10 | - | 3,873 | 0.39 | - | 79,458 | 7.97 | 997,568 | style="text-align:center;" | PA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 17,530 | 42.99 | - | 21,969 | 53.88 | 4 | 1,251 | 3.07 | - | 18 | 0.04 | - | 4,439 | 10.89 | 40,775 | style="text-align:center;" | RI |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 65,824 | 82.28 | 9 | 13,736 | 17.17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -52,088 | -65.11 | 79,997 | style="text-align:center;" | SC |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 158,699 | 52.26 | 12 | 138,978 | 45.76 | - | 5,969 | 1.97 | - | 48 | 0.02 | - | -19,721 | -6.49 | 303,694 | style="text-align:center;" | TN |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 234,883 | 65.70 | 13 | 88,422 | 24.73 | - | 4,749 | 1.33 | - | 29,459 | 8.24 | - | -146,461 | -40.97 | 357,513 | style="text-align:center;" | TX |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 16,788 | 25.65 | - | 45,192 | 69.05 | 4 | 1,460 | 2.23 | - | 1,977 | 3.02 | - | 28,404 | 43.40 | 65,452 | style="text-align:center;" | VT |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 152,004 | 49.99 | 12 | 150,399 | 49.46 | - | 1,684 | 0.55 | - | - | - | - | -1,605 | -0.53 | 304,087 | style="text-align:center;" | VA |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 78,677 | 49.35 | 6 | 78,171 | 49.03 | - | 1,084 | 0.68 | - | 1,508 | 0.95 | - | -506 | -0.32 | 159,440 | style="text-align:center;" | WV |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1888 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]] | style="text-align:center;" | 11 | 155,232 | 43.77 | - | 176,553 | 49.79 | 11 | 14,277 | 4.03 | - | 8,552 | 2.41 | - | 21,321 | 6.01 | 354,614 | style="text-align:center;" | WI |- ! TOTALS: ! 401 ! 5,538,163 ! 48.63 ! 168 ! 5,443,633 ! 47.80 ! 233 ! 250,017 ! 2.20 ! - ! 149,115 ! 1.31 ! - ! -94,530 ! -0.83 ! 11,388,846 | style="text-align:center;" | US |}</div> ===States that flipped from Democratic to Republican=== * [[Indiana]] * [[New York (state)|New York]] === Close states === Margin of victory less than 1% (39 electoral votes): # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Connecticut, 0.22% (336 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''West Virginia, 0.32% (506 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Indiana, 0.44% (2,348 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Virginia, 0.53% (1,605 votes)'''</span> Margin of victory between 1% and 5% (150 electoral votes): # ''<span style="color:red;">'''New York, 1.09% (14,373 votes)''' </span> (tipping point state)'' # <span style="color:red;">'''Ohio, 2.33% (19,599 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''New Jersey, 2.35% (7,148 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''New Hampshire, 2.50% (2,272 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''California, 2.82% (7,087 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Maryland, 2.94% (6,202 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Illinois, 2.96% (22,124 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''North Carolina, 4.59% (13,118 votes)''' </span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Michigan, 4.82% (22,918 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Missouri, 4.93% (25,691 votes)'''</span> Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (93 electoral votes): # <span style="color:red;">'''Wisconsin, 6.01% (21,321 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Tennessee, 6.49% (19,721 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Iowa, 7.85% (31,726 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Pennsylvania, 7.97% (79,458 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:darkblue;">'''Kentucky, 8.32% (28,692 votes)'''</span> # <span style="color:red;">'''Massachusetts, 9.38% (32,302 votes)'''</span> == In popular culture == [[File:TradeCardPrezCampaignThemeAdvertClevelandHarrison1888.jpg|thumb|Business advertising card with an election theme]] In 1968 the Michael P. Antoine Company produced the [[Walt Disney Company]] [[musical film]] ''[[The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band]]'' which centers on the election of 1888 and the annexing and subdividing of the [[Dakota Territory]] into states (which was a major issue of the election). == See also == * [[American election campaigns in the 19th century]] * [[History of the United States (1865β1918)]] * [[1888 United States House of Representatives elections]] * [[1888β89 United States Senate elections]] * [[History of the United States Democratic Party]] * [[History of the United States Republican Party]] * [[Inauguration of Benjamin Harrison]] * [[Third Party System]] ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Works cited== * {{cite book|last1=Abramson |first1=Paul |last2=Aldrich |first2=John |last3=Rohde |first3=David |title=Change and Continuity in the 1992 Elections |publisher=[[CQ Press]] |date=1995 |isbn=0871878399}} * {{cite book|last=Sherman |first=Richard |title=The Republican Party and Black America From McKinley to Hoover 1896-1933 |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |date=1973 |isbn=0813904676}} * {{cite journal|last=Hild |first=Matthew |title=The Knights of Labor and the Third-Party Movement in Texas, 1886β1896 |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |date=2015 |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=24β43 |doi=10.2307/447112 |jstor=24388910 }} ==Further reading== === Secondary sources === * {{cite journal |first=James L. |last=Baumgarden |title=The 1888 Presidential Election: How Corrupt? |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=14 |date=Summer 1984 |pages=416β27}} * 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): 246β269. [https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/download/22542/28460/ online] * {{cite journal |jstor=40589751 |title=Gilded Age Statecraft |last1=Calhoon |first1=Robert M. |journal=Reviews in American History |year=2010 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=99β103 |doi=10.1353/rah.0.0172 |s2cid=145017507}} * {{cite book |title=Minority Victory: Gilded Age Politics and the Front Porch Campaign of 1888 |last=Calhoun |first=Charles W. |author-link=Charles W. Calhoun |year=2008 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence |isbn=978-0-7006-1596-4}} * {{cite journal |first=Brian J. |last=Gaines |title=Popular Myths about Popular Vote-Electoral College Splits |journal=PS: Political Science and Politics |volume=34 |date=March 2001 |pages=70β75 |doi=10.1017/s1049096501000105|doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024 |s2cid=154828041 }} * {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Richard |title=The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888β1896 |year=1971 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-39825-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/winningofmidwest0000jens}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=XpCgCNZwpvoC online free] * {{cite book |first=H. Wayne |last=Morgan |title=From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877β1896 |year=1969 |location=Syracuse |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=0-8156-2136-1}} * [[Allan Nevins|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, 1888β1901'' (1937). pp 1β74. * {{cite book |first=Joanne R. |last=Reitano |title=The Tariff Question in the Gilded Age: The Great Debate of 1888 |year=1994 |location=University Park |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=0-271-01035-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/tariffquestionin0000reit}} * {{cite web |last=Shenkman |first=Rick |year=2004 |url=http://hnn.us/articles/3593.html |title=Who Played the First Dirty Tricks in American Presidential Politics? |work=History News Network |access-date=April 4, 2005}} * Sievers, Harry. '' Benjamin Harrison: from the Civil War to the White House, 1865β1888'' (1959), standard biography * {{cite book |last1=Socolofsky |first1=Homer E. |last2=Spetter |first2=Allan B. |year=1987 |title=The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-0320-6}} * {{cite book |first=Mark Wahlgren |last=Summers |title=Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics |year=2004 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0-8078-2862-9}} [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807855375 excerpt and text search] === Primary sources === * {{cite book |last=Dawson |first=George Francis |year=1888 |url=https://archive.org/details/republicancampa00usgoog |quote=Democratic campaign text Book. |title=The Republican Campaign Text-book for 1888 |publisher=Brentano's |location=New York}} * ''The campaign text book of the Democratic party of the United States, for ...1888'' (1888) [https://archive.org/details/campaigntextboo00usgoog <!-- quote=intitle:campaign intitle: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) [https://books.google.com/books?id=010NAQAAIAAJ&q=intitle:Letters+intitle:of+intitle:Grover+intitle:Cleveland 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 speeches [https://books.google.com/books?id=gcFxAAAAMAAJ&q=intitle:campaign+intitle:1888 full text online] * Chester, Edward W ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977) [https://archive.org/details/guidetopolitical0000ches online] * Porter, Kirk H. and Donald Bruce Johnson, eds. ''National party platforms, 1840β1964'' (1965) [https://archive.org/details/nationalpartypla00port online 1840β1956] == External links == {{Commons category}} * [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/elections/election1888.html Presidential Election of 1888: A Resource Guide] from the Library of Congress * [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1888.htm 1888 popular vote by counties] * [http://www.countingthevotes.com/1888/ Election of 1888 in Counting the Votes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041320/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1888/ |date=March 4, 2016 }} * [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vote-that-failed-159427766/?all The Vote That Failed]. ''Smithsonian Magazine'' article on Indiana in the 1888 election. {{Benjamin Harrison}} {{Grover Cleveland}} {{State Results of the 1888 U.S. presidential election}} {{United States presidential election, 1888}} {{USPresidentialElections}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:1888 United States presidential election| ]] [[Category:Presidency of Benjamin Harrison]] [[Category:Grover Cleveland]] [[Category:Benjamin Harrison]] [[Category:Levi P. Morton]] [[Category:November 1888]] [[Category:Electoral fraud in the United States]]
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