Editing 1928 United States presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Use American English|date=March 2024}}{{for|related races|1928 United States elections}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1928 United States presidential election
| country = United States
| flag_year = 1913
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1924 United States presidential election
| previous_year = 1924
| election_date = November 6, 1928
| next_election = 1932 United States presidential election
| next_year = 1932
| votes_for_election = 531 members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]
| needed_votes = 266 electoral
| turnout = 56.9%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwfw.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}}</ref> {{increase}} 8.0 [[percentage point|pp]]
| image1 = File:Herbert Hoover - NARA - 532049.jpg
| image_size = x200px
| nominee1 = '''[[Herbert Hoover]]'''
| party1 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state1 = [[California]]
| running_mate1 = '''[[Charles Curtis]]'''
| electoral_vote1 = '''444'''
| states_carried1 = '''40'''
| popular_vote1 = '''21,427,123'''
| percentage1 = '''58.1%'''
| image2 = File:Unsuccessful 1928.jpg
| nominee2 = [[Al Smith]]
| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
| home_state2 = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| running_mate2 = [[Joseph Taylor Robinson|Joseph T. Robinson]]
| electoral_vote2 = 87
| states_carried2 = 8
| popular_vote2 = 15,015,464
| percentage2 = 40.9%
| map_size = 350px
| map = {{1928 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:red;">Red</span> denotes states won by Hoover/Curtis, <span style="color:blue;">blue</span> denotes those won by Smith/Robinson. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
| title = President
| before_election = [[Calvin Coolidge]]
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = [[Herbert Hoover]]
| after_party = Republican Party (United States)
}}
[[United States presidential election|Presidential elections]] were held in the [[United States]] on November 6, 1928. [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] former Secretary of Commerce [[Herbert Hoover]] defeated the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee, Governor [[Al Smith]] of New York.

After President [[Calvin Coolidge]] declined to seek reelection, Hoover emerged as the Republican Party's frontrunner. As Hoover's party opponents failed to unite around a candidate, Hoover received a large majority of the vote at the [[1928 Republican National Convention]]. The strong state of the economy discouraged some Democrats from running, and Smith was nominated on the first ballot of the [[1928 Democratic National Convention]]. Hoover and Smith had been widely known as potential presidential candidates long before the 1928 campaign, and both were generally regarded as outstanding leaders. Both were newcomers to the presidential race and presented in their person and record an appeal of unknown potency to the electorate. Both faced serious discontent within their respective parties' membership, and both lacked the wholehearted support of their parties' organization.<ref name="The Presidential Vote 1932, pg. 24">The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 24</ref>

[[File:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg|thumb|197x197px|The [[incumbent]] in 1928, Calvin Coolidge. His second term expired at noon on March 4, 1929.]]

In the end, the Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s, and Smith, a [[Roman Catholic]], suffered politically from [[Anti-Catholicism in the United States|anti-Catholic]] sentiment  particularly in the [[Solid South]], his opposition to [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], and his association with the legacy of corruption by [[Tammany Hall]]. Hoover won a third straight Republican [[landslide victory|landslide]] and made substantial inroads in the traditionally-[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[Solid South]] by winning several states that had not voted for a Republican since the end of [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]. Smith carried the five states of the [[Deep South]], his running mate's home state of Arkansas, and the [[Northeastern United States|Northeastern]] states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Hoover's victory made him the first president born west of the Mississippi River, and he remains the most recent [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet secretary]] to win a presidential election. [[Charles Curtis]] became the first (and thus far the only) Native American vice president, and the first vice president with acknowledged non-European ancestry.{{efn|name="NonwhiteVP"|The second was [[Kamala Harris]], elected as [[Joe Biden]]'s vice president in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]].}} This was the last Republican presidential victory until [[1952 United States presidential election|1952]].

== Nominations ==

=== Republican Party nomination ===
{{Main|1928 Republican National Convention}}{{See also|Endorsements in the 1928 Republican Party presidential primaries}}

{| 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>'''1928 Republican Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Herbert Hoover|{{color|white|Herbert Hoover}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Charles Curtis|{{color|white|Charles Curtis}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#FFD0D7;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Herbert Hoover - NARA - 532049.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Charles Curtis-portrait.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[United States Secretary of Commerce|U.S. Secretary of Commerce]]<br /><small>(1921–1928)</small>
| [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Kansas]] <br /><small>(1907–1913 & 1915–1929)</small>
|-
|colspan=2|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 208 votes</small><ref name="auto">{{cite news |title=How Delegates To Conventions Of Both Parties Are Lined Up |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355105717 |access-date=November 15, 2022 |work=The Chicago Tribune |date=May 17, 1928}}</ref>''<br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 837 votes</small>''<br><small>2,045,928 votes</small>
|-
|}

==== Other candidates ====

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; width:1400px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}};" |''Candidates in this section are sorted by their highest vote count on the nominating ballot''
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[Frank Orren Lowden]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[Charles Curtis]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[James Eli Watson]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[George W. Norris]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[Guy D. Goff]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[Calvin Coolidge]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;" |[[Frank B. Willis]]
|-
|[[File:Frank O Lowden portrait (1).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Charles Curtis-portrait (cropped 3x4).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:James Eli Watson.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:NORRIS, GEORGE W. SENATOR LCCN2016856729 (3x4a).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Guy Despard Goff.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg|center|121x121px]]
|[[File:Frank B Willis 2.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[Governor of Illinois|Governor]]<br />of [[Illinois]]<br /><small>(1917–1921)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Kansas]]<br /><small>(1924–1929)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Indiana]]<br /><small>(1916–1933)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Nebraska]]<br /><small>(1913–1943)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[West Virginia]]<br /><small>(1925–1931)</small>
|U.S. President<br />from [[Massachusetts]]<br /><small>(1923–1929)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Ohio]]<br /><small>(1921–1928)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 111 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}:'''''<small> Before 1st Ballot</small>''<br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 74 votes</small>''<br><small>1,317,799 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 23 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 64 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 33 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 45 votes</small>''<br><small>228,795 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 27 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 24 votes</small>''<br><small>259,548 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 18 votes</small>''<br><small>128,429 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|DTR|Declined To Run}}'''<br>'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 10 votes</small>''<ref name="auto" /><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 17 votes</small>''<br><small>12,985 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|Died|Died}}:'''<small> ''March 30''</small><br><small>84,461 votes</small>
|- 
|}

[[File:Charlie Curtis and Herbert Hoover.jpg|thumb|right|[[Herbert Hoover]] and [[Charles Curtis]] after winning the presidential and vice-presidential nominations]]

With President [[Calvin Coolidge]] [[I do not choose to run|choosing not to seek re-election]], the race for the nomination was wide open. The leading candidates were [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] [[Herbert Hoover]], former Illinois Governor [[Frank Orren Lowden]] and [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Majority Leader]] [[Charles Curtis]]. A movement to draft Coolidge failed to gain traction with party insiders or even persuade Coolidge himself.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-8262-1090-6 | last = Rutland | first = Robert Allen | title = The Republicans | year = 1996 | page = [https://archive.org/details/republicansfroml00rutl_0/page/176 176] | url = https://archive.org/details/republicansfroml00rutl_0/page/176 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-7486-2037-1 | last = Palmer | first = Niall A.  | title = The twenties in America | url = https://archive.org/details/twentiesamericap00palm | url-access = limited | year = 2006 | page = [https://archive.org/details/twentiesamericap00palm/page/n134 128] }}</ref>

In the few primaries that mattered, Hoover did not perform as well as expected, leaving him with fewer than half the number of pledged delegates that he needed to win the nomination. Lowden in turn only had half the number of delegates that Hoover did, leaving it looking unlikely that the first rounds of voting would produce a majority for any candidate. Attempts were made to sound out Coolidge and Vice President [[Charles G. Dawes]] as to whether they would be willing to enter the race and break a potential deadlock between Hoover and Lowden, but both Coolidge and Dawes remained aloof. The matter was unexpectedly resolved when the convention voted to adopt a platform that repudiated the [[McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill]], in turn causing Lowden to withdraw his candidacy in protest, and leaving no obvious challenger to Hoover. The only real competition that remained came from Senator Curtis, whose campaign was left with far too little time to win over the Lowden supporters.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-8262-1133-0 | last = Walch | first = Timothy | title = At the President's side | year = 1997 | page = [https://archive.org/details/atpresidentsside00walc/page/36 36] | url = https://archive.org/details/atpresidentsside00walc/page/36 }}</ref>

The Republican Convention was held in [[Kansas City, Missouri]] from June 12 to 15 and nominated Hoover on the first ballot. With Hoover disinclined to interfere in the selection of his running mate, the party leaders were at first partial to giving Dawes a shot at a second term, but when that information leaked, Coolidge sent an angry telegram that said that he would consider a second nomination for Dawes, whom he hated, a "personal affront".<ref>{{Cite book | last = Mencken | first = Henry Louis | author-link1 = H. L. Mencken |author2=George Jean Nathan  | author-link2 = George Jean Nathan | title = The American mercury | year = 1929 | page = 404 }}</ref> To attract votes from farmers who were concerned about Hoover's pro-business orientation, the nomination was instead offered to Curtis. He accepted and was nominated overwhelmingly on the first ballot.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-415-92133-6 | last = Mieczkowski | first = Yanek | author2 = Mark Christopher Carnes | title = The Routledge historical atlas of presidential elections | year = 2001 | page = [https://archive.org/details/routledgehistori0000miec/page/94 94] | publisher = Psychology Press | url = https://archive.org/details/routledgehistori0000miec/page/94 }}</ref>  Curtis was the first candidate of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] ancestry nominated by a major party for national office.

In his acceptance speech eight weeks after the convention ended, Hoover said: "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of this land... We shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this land."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881167,00.html?iid=chix-sphere |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130033819/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881167,00.html?iid=chix-sphere |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 30, 2009 |title=Hoover's Speech |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=May 18, 2008 | date=August 20, 1928}}</ref> That sentence would haunt Hoover during the [[Great Depression]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+The balloting
|-
!Presidential Ballot!! !!Vice Presidential Ballot!!
|-
![[Herbert Hoover]] !!837!! [[Charles Curtis]] !!1,052
|-
![[Frank Orren Lowden]]!!74!! [[Herman Ekern]] !!19
|-
![[Charles Curtis]] !!64!! [[Charles G. Dawes]] !!13
|-
![[James Eli Watson]] !!45!! [[Hanford MacNider]] !!2
|-
![[George W. Norris]] !!24!! !!
|-
![[Guy D. Goff]] !!18!!  !!
|-
![[Calvin Coolidge]] !!17!!  !!
|-
![[Charles G. Dawes]] !!4!! !!
|-
![[Charles Evans Hughes]] !!1!! !!
|}

=== Democratic Party nomination ===
{{Main|1928 Democratic National Convention}}
{{See also|Endorsements in the 1928 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}

{| 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>'''1928 Democratic Party ticket '''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Al Smith|{{color|white|Al Smith}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Joseph Taylor Robinson|{{color|white|Joseph T. Robinson}}]]
|-
| 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:AlfredSmith (3x4).png|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Joseph T. Robinson cropped.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[List of Governors of New York|42nd]]<br />[[Governor of New York]]<br /><small>(1919–1920 & 1923–1928)</small>
| [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Arkansas]]<br /><small>(1913–1937)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Al Smith 1928 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
|colspan=2|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 410 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 849.19 votes</small>''<br><small>515,389 votes</small>
|}

==== Other candidates ====
{{Main|1928 Democratic National Convention}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; width:1400px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};"|''Candidates in this section are sorted by their highest vote count on the nominating ballot''
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Cordell Hull]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Walter F. George]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[James A. Reed (politician)|James A. Reed]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Atlee Pomerene]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Jesse H. Jones]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Evans Woollen]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[William Augustus Ayres|William A. Ayres]]
|-
|[[File:Hull-Cordell-LOC.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Sen. Walter F. George (cropped).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Sen. Jas. A. Reed LCCN2016848785 (cropped).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:AtleePomereneBakerPortrait1.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:JONES, JESSE H., HONORABLE LCCN2016860069.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:EvansWoollen.png|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:WilliamAugustusAyres.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|Congressman<br />from [[Tennessee]]<br /><small>(1923–1931)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]<br /><small>(1922–1957)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Missouri]]<br /><small>(1911–1929)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Ohio]]<br /><small>(1911–1923)</small>
|Owner of the ''Houston Chronicle''<br />from [[Texas]]
|Lawyer and Banker<br />from [[Indiana]]
|Congressman<br />from [[Kansas]]<br /><small>(1923–1934)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 24 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 71.84 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 28 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 52.5 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 36 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 52 votes</small>''<br><small>207,799 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 47 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 47 votes</small>''<br><small>13,957 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 43 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 30 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 32 votes</small>''<br><small>146,934 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 20 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 20 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|- 
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Pat Harrison]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Richard C. Watts]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Gilbert Hitchcock]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Edwin T. Meredith]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Henry Tureman Allen|Henry T. Allen]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Albert Ritchie]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Thomas J. Walsh]]
|-
|[[File:Pat Harrison cph.3b17523.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Richard_C._Watts.jpg|center|frameless|120x120px]]
|[[File:HITCHCOCK, G.M. HONORABLE LCCN2016857525 (cropped).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:E.T. Meredith, ggbain.29455u.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Gen. H.T. Allen LCCN2014715333.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Albert Ritchie, photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:WALSH, THOMAS J. SENATOR LCCN2016861395.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Mississippi]]<br /><small>(1919–1941)</small>
|[[South Carolina Supreme Court|Chief Justice]]<br />of [[South Carolina]]<br /><small>(1927–1930)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Nebraska]]<br /><small>(1911–1923)</small>
|U.S. Secretary of Agriculture<br />from [[Iowa]]<br /><small>(1920–1921)</small>
|Major General<br />from [[Kentucky]]
|Governor<br />of [[Maryland]]<br /><small>(1920–1935)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Montana]]<br /><small>(1913–1933)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 20 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 18 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 16 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 16 votes</small>''<br><small>51,019 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 2 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<br><small>57 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|HCV|Highest Convention Vote}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 16 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}:'''''<small> June 18</small>''<br><small>0 votes</small>
|'''{{abbr|ID|Instructed Delegates}}:'''''<small> 0 votes</small>''<ref name="auto"/><br>'''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}:'''''<small> May 5</small>''<br><small>60,243 votes</small>
|-
|}

Owing to the [[Roaring Twenties|economic prosperity]] in the country and rapidly fading public memory of the [[Teapot Dome scandal]], the Democratic Party's prospects looked dim. New York Governor [[Al Smith]] had previously made two attempts to secure the Democratic nomination.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-275-96865-6 | last = Paulson | first = Arthur C.  | title = Realignment and party revival | year = 2000 | page = 52 | publisher = Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>

The [[1928 Democratic National Convention]] was held in [[Houston]], Texas, on June 26 to 28, and Smith became the candidate on the first ballot.

The leadership asked the delegates to nominate Senator [[Joseph Taylor Robinson]] of Arkansas, in many ways Smith's political polar opposite, to be his running mate, and Robinson was nominated for vice-president.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-313-30312-8 | last = Binning | first = William C. | author2 = Larry Eugene Esterly | author3 = Paul A. Sracic | author3-link = Paul Sracic | title = Encyclopedia of American parties, campaigns, and elections | year = 1999 | page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam0000binn/page/135 135] | publisher = Bloomsbury Academic | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam0000binn/page/135 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last = Ledbetter | first = Cal | author-link = Calvin Ledbetter, Jr. | title = Joe T. Robinson and the 1928 presidential election | work = Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) | date = August 24, 2008 }}</ref>

Smith was the first [[Roman Catholic]] to gain a major party's nomination for president, and his religion became an issue during the campaign. Many Protestants feared that Smith would take orders from church leaders in the Vatican in making decisions affecting the country.<ref>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-684-86302-3 | last = Slayton | first = Robert A. | title = Empire statesman | year = 2001 | page = [https://archive.org/details/empirestatesmanr00robe/page/304 304] | publisher = Simon and Schuster | url = https://archive.org/details/empirestatesmanr00robe/page/304 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = O'Connor, Vaughan, Cuomo, Al Smith, J.F.K.  | access-date = May 19, 2009 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/02/opinion/o-connor-vaughan-cuomo-al-smith-jfk.html | first=Arthur Jr. | last=Schlesinger | work = The New York Times | author-link = Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. | date=February 2, 1990}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+The Balloting
|-
!Presidential Ballot!! 1st Before Shifts !! 1st After Shifts !!Vice Presidential Ballot!! 1st
|-
![[Al Smith]] !!724.67!!849.19!! [[Joseph Taylor Robinson]] !!1,035.17
|-
![[Cordell Hull]] !!71.84!!50.84!! [[Alben W. Barkley]] !!77
|-
![[Walter F. George]] !!52.5!!52.5!! [[Nellie Tayloe Ross]] !!31
|-
![[James A. Reed (politician)|James A. Reed]] !!48!!52!! [[Henry Tureman Allen]] !!28
|-
![[Atlee Pomerene]] !!47!!3!! [[George L. Berry]] !!17.5
|-
![[Jesse H. Jones]] !!43!!43!! [[Dan Moody]] !!9.33
|-
![[Evans Woollen]] !!32!!7!! [[Duncan U. Fletcher]] !!7
|-
![[Pat Harrison]] !!20!!8.5!! [[John H. Taylor (Mormon)|John H. Taylor]] !!6
|-
![[William A. Ayres]] !!20!!3!! [[Lewis Stevenson (politician)|Lewis Stevenson]] !!4
|-
![[Richard C. Watts]] !!18!!18!! [[Evans Woollen]] !!2
|-
![[Gilbert Hitchcock]] !!16!!2!! [[Joseph Patrick Tumulty]] !!1
|-
![[A. Victor Donahey]] !!5!!5!! !!
|-
!Houston Thompson !!2!!2!!  !!
|-
![[Theodore G. Bilbo]] !!0!!1!! !!
|}

===Other candidates===

====Socialist Party====
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1928 Socialist Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:200px;"| [[Norman Thomas|{{color|white|Norman Thomas}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:200px;"| [[James H. Maurer|{{color|white|James H. Maurer}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#F08080;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Norman Thomas 1937.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:James Hudson Maurer in 1918 (cropped).jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| Presbyterian Minister<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]
| State Representative<br>from [[Pennsylvania]]<br /><small>(1915–1919)</small>
|-
|-
|}

Held in the Finnish Socialist Hall in New York City, the eighth Socialist Party Convention met on the thirteenth of April. [[James H. Maurer|James Maurer]], a former State Representative, President of the [[American Federation of Labor|Pennsylvania Federation of Labor]] and then Councilman for the city of [[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]], was widely considered the frontrunner in the months before the convention met. For his boomers however, Maurer stood that his duties as councilman precluded the possibility of any national tour that would be required of his nomination for the presidency, and this was declination was made definitive on April tenth.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/04/11/95566851.html?pageNumber=3 | title=Thomas Again Urged To Run For Socialists; Withdrawal of J.H. Maurer as Candidate Puts Him to Front --Convention Friday | work=The New York Times|date=April 11, 1928 }}</ref> [[Norman Thomas]], a Presbyterian minister who had been one of Maurer's boomers and had himself made it known that he was not a candidate for the Socialist nomination rather swiftly became the new frontrunner, and plans were made for a draft effort. Thomas and Maurer were nominated unanimously for president and vice president respectively, with both men accepting their nominations. The only trouble arose on the question of Prohibition, where there remained a split in the party between those who supported the Eighteenth Amendment and those, like Convention Chair [[Victor L. Berger|Victor Berger]], who preferred that it be handled on a state-by-state basis. In the end it was agreed that the party remain silent on the issue of Prohibition.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/04/16/91499470.html?pageNumber=18 | title=Thomas Is Slated To Lead Socialists; Convention to Name Its Ticket Today, with Maurer Likely to be Running Mate. Berger Again Is Chairman; Fights on Platform Planks Expected --Young Peoples League Gets Funds to Push Its Work | work=The New York Times|date= April 16, 1928 }}</ref>

====Workers (Communist) Party====
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1928 Workers Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#D50000; width:200px;"| [[William Z. Foster|{{color|white|William Z. Foster}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#D50000; width:200px;"| [[Benjamin Gitlow|{{color|white|Benjamin Gitlow}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ff3333;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:William Z. Foster, cropped.PNG|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Gitlow-benjamin-1928-trim.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| Chairman of the party<br>from [[Massachusetts]]
| State Assemblyman<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]<br /><small>(1918–1918)</small>
|-
|-
|}

Held in the [[New York City Center|Mecca Temple]] in New York City, the second Workers' Party Convention met on the twenty-fifth of May. [[Jay Lovestone]] served as the convention's keynote speaker, denouncing the Democratic, Republican and Socialist Parties and claiming that the Communists would turn the next "imperialist war" into a civil war. Party Chair [[William Z. Foster|William Foster]] was named as the party's candidate for the presidency while [[Benjamin Gitlow]], a former opponent of Foster's within the party, was named as its candidate for vice president.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/05/28/91518565.html?pageNumber=25 | title=Communists Choose Foster For President; Workers' Party Picks Gitlow as Running Mate at First National Convention Here | work=The New York Times |date= May 28, 1928}}</ref> [[Scott Nearing]] was also considered a possible contender for either position on ticket.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/05/27/95580345.html?pageNumber=27 | title=Give Communist Platform; Delegates Stress Capital-Labor Struggle and Assail Dry Law | work=The New York Times|date= May 27, 1928 }}</ref> A platform was adopted which, in addition to calling for American workers to overthrow the capitalistic system of government, also demanded the enactment of social insurance, the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act, a five-hour workday, the withdrawal of troops from Nicaragua and China, and the recognition of the Soviet Union.

====Socialist Labor Party====
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1928 Socialist Labor Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#DD051D; width:200px;"| [[Verne L. Reynolds|{{color|white|Verne L. Reynolds}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#DD051D; width:200px;"| [[Jeremiah D. Crowley|{{color|white|Jeremiah D. Crowley}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#e3364a;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
|[[File:Verne L. Reynolds.jpg|200x200px]]
|-
| Steamfitter<br>from [[Michigan]]
| Activist<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]
|-
|-
|}

Held in New York City, the tenth Socialist Labor Party Convention met on the twelfth of May. Initially the ticket was a duplicate of the one nominated four years prior, [[Frank T. Johns|Frank Johns]] of Oregon for the presidency and [[Verne L. Reynolds|Verne Reynolds]] of Michigan for Vice President; however Johns, while campaigning in [[Bend, Oregon]], died while attempting to rescue a young boy who had fallen into the river shortly after one of his opening campaign events.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/05/22/91514421.html?pageNumber=11 | title=Frank T. Johns.; Socialist-Labor Presidential Nominee of 1924 Fails to Save Boy | work=The New York Times|date= May 22, 1918 }}</ref> With their standard-bearer having passed, the executive committee of the party tendered the presidential nomination to Reynolds, with the place of vice presidential nominee being filled by [[Jeremiah D. Crowley|Jeremiah Crowley]] of New York. Speaking of the "decay of the Capitalistic System", Reynolds campaigned on the idea of [[Industrial democracy]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/09/95629974.html?pageNumber=10 | title=Labor Party Starts Drive; V.L. Reynolds, Presidential Nominee, Speaks at Open Air Rally | work=The New York Times |date= October 9, 1928}}</ref>

====Prohibition Party====
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1928 Prohibition Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF00FF; width:200px;"| [[William F. Varney|{{color|white|William F. Varney}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#FF00FF; width:200px;"| [[James A. Edgerton|{{color|white|James A. Edgerton}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ffa6ff;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:William F. Varney.png|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:James A. Edgerton.png|center|200x200px]]
|-
| Insurance Agent<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]
| Poet and Philosopher<br>from [[Virginia]]
|-
|-
|}

Held at the [[La Salle Hotel]] in Chicago, the fifteenth Prohibition Party Convention met on the tenth of July. Dr. [[D. Leigh Colvin]] and other Prohibitionists had found both the Republican and Democratic planks regarding Prohibition as unsatisfactory, and there was open discussion of nominating a ticket despite the continued reversals the party had suffered since 1920.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/01/94144765.html?pageNumber=3 | title=Prohibitionists To Meet.; Convention Will be Held in Chicago July 10 | work=The New York Times|date= July 1, 1928 }}</ref> The name of former Governor [[Gifford Pinchot]] of Pennsylvania was bandied about as a potential contender, though there were those like Colvin who wanted to take advantage of the Democrat's nomination of a Wet Catholic by nominating a Dry Southern Democrat to the head of the ticket in the hopes of carrying one of the Southern states; [[William Gibbs McAdoo]], Senator [[Robert L. Owen|Robert Owen]] of Oklahoma, and former [[Commissioner of Internal Revenue|IRS Commissioner]] [[Daniel C. Roper|Daniel Roper]] were other names considered for a draft.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/03/91534603.html?pageNumber=2 | title=Prohibition Leader Assails Dry League; Chairman Colvin Declares Asheville Meeting Designed toMinimize Party | work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1928 }}</ref> A merger with the Farmer-Labor Party was contemplated for a time, and a committee was appointed which named a potential ticket of Gifford Pinchot for President and former Governor [[William Ellery Sweet]] of Colorado for Vice President; however neither man responded to inquiries whether they would accept the nomination, and eventually both the Prohibition and Farmer-Labor Parties tabled motions calling for fusion.<ref name="timesmachine.nytimes.com">{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/12/94148743.html?pageNumber=4 | title=Farm-Laborites Nominate Norris; Convention in Chicago Selects Nebraskan as Candidate for Presidency. Acceptance Is Unlikely; Group with Prohibitionists Had Asked Pinchot and Sweet to Lead Third Party. Farm-Laborites Nominate Norris; Table the Proposal for Fusion. Prohibition Platform Debated. Says Saloon is Now in Home; Norris's Course In Doubt. He Has Questioned the Desirability, of a Third Party Movement | work=The New York Times|date=July 12, 1928 }}</ref>

There remained immense pressure within the party to name [[Herbert Hoover]] as their choice for president despite his dithering on the issue of Prohibition enforcement in the eyes of the stricter Drys, and indeed when the balloting for the presidential nomination commenced Hoover was found to be the second most popular choice of the delegates. Those opposed to Hoover rallied on the second ballot however behind frontrunner [[William F. Varney|William Varnery]], an insurance salesman and party regular from [[New York (state)|New York]]. [[James A. Edgerton|James Edgerton]], a [[Virginia]]n native who had headed the Jefferson-Lincoln League in the failed effort to fuse the Prohibition and Farmer-Labor Parties, was nominated for the vice presidency.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/13/94149556.html?pageNumber=3 | title=Long Island Man Heads Dry Ticket; Prohibitionists Name William F. Varney of Rockville Centre as Presidential Candidate. Reject Hoover and Smith; Governor's Nomination Starts Hubbub in Chicago Convention--Virginian Gets Second Place. Smith's Name Starts Hub-bub. Calls Smith "Man We Love." Mr. Varney's Children Pleased. | work=The New York Times|date=July 13, 1928 }}</ref> An olive branch was still offered to Hoover however, with the Prohibition Party promising to withdraw their ticket and endorse his candidacy were he make a public declaration in favor of Prohibition, that they would uphold the Volstead Act, and that they would present legislation to better enforce both during their term as president.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/15/91692481.html?pageNumber=4 | title=Explains Dry Ticket Aim.; Edgerton Says Prohibitionists Protest Lax Enforcement of Law | work=The New York Times|date=July 15, 1928 }}</ref> Indeed, there remained a concerted effort to withdraw the ticket from the race, resulting in a meeting by the Party National Executive Committee on whether Varney should drop out. Varney himself was opposed to this plan, and in a narrow vote, four to three, the effort to effectively endorse Hoover for the presidency failed.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/09/01/95601699.html?pageNumber=1 | title=Prohibition Party Refuses to Aid Hoover; Varney Will Stay in Race on 'Principle' | work=The New York Times|date=September 1, 1928 }}</ref> Still, there remained a concern that the ticket might potentially spoil the race and accidentally result in Smith's election to the presidency, and so care was taken to avoid any repeat of [[1884 United States presidential election|1884]]; Prohibition Party electors were not filed in New York, and Varney and Edgerton were to confine their campaigning to the Solid South and the Border States, reasoning that many Dry Democrats there might still vote for Smith unless they were given a third option.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/09/02/105201379.html?pageNumber=3 | title=Will Try To Weaken Smith In South; Prohibition Candidates Will Avoid States Where They Might Injure Hoover | work=The New York Times|date=September 2, 1928 }}</ref>

====Farmer-Labor Party====
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1928 Farmer-Labor Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#36a236; width:200px;"| [[Frank Elbridge Webb|{{color|white|Frank E. Webb}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#36a236; width:200px;"| [[LeRoy R. Tillman|{{color|white|LeRoy R. Tillman}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#66FF99;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
|[[File:Frank Elbridge Webb, 1931.jpg|center|200x200px]]

|-
| Colonel<br>from [[California]]
| Businessman<br>from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|-
|-
|}

Held in Chicago, the third Farmer-Labor Party Convention met on the tenth of July. A merger with the Prohibition Party was contemplated for a time, and a committee was appointed which named a potential ticket of [[Gifford Pinchot]] for president and former Governor [[William Ellery Sweet]] of Colorado for Vice President; however neither man responded to inquiries whether they would accept the nomination, and eventually both the Farmer-Labor and Prohibition Parties tabled motions calling for fusion.<ref name="timesmachine.nytimes.com"/> Initially the party had nominated Senator [[George W. Norris|George Norris]] of Nebraska for President, but Norris adhered to an earlier declaration that he had made where he felt that the political machinery necessary to wage a successful campaign for the presidency was not possible to establish so late in the campaigning season.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/11/94147991.html?pageNumber=2 | title=Prohibition Party Is In a Quandary; All Delegates in Chicago Convention Against Smith--Many Oppose Hoover. May Join Farm-Laborites; One Delegate Advocates Election of Heflin, 'Even if There Must Be Bloodshed.' Seek Farmer-Labor Policy. Opposes Governor Smith. Wouldn't Balk at Bloodshed. Norris Against a Third Party | work=The New York Times|date=July 11, 1928 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/07/13/94149573.html?pageNumber=4 | title=Norris Won't Head Third Party Ticket; Senator, in Refusing Farmer Labor Nomination, Calls Power Issue "Paramount." Denounces Major Parties; Nebraskan Declares Trust Forced Both to Silence on Monopoly That Robs People of Rights.; Calls Power Issue "Paramount."; Sees Democracy "Crippled."; Delay of Boulder Dam Charged.; Refuses to Run as Vice President | work=The New York Times|date=July 13, 1928 }}</ref> To run alongside Norris the party had named [[William J. Vereen]] of Georgia, a cotton textile manufacturer, but refused to consider his nomination under any circumstances once the press had brought it to his attention. Some months later the presidential nomination was tendered to Colonel [[Frank Elbridge Webb]] of [[California]], with the vice presidential nomination being offered to Senator [[James A. Reed (politician)|James Reed]] of [[Missouri]] after Webb rejected the idea of potentially running with Senator [[James Thomas Heflin|James Heflin]] of [[Alabama]]; as with Vereen, Reed had no prior knowledge of his impending nomination and wholly rejected it, purportedly saying "Who in hell is Webb?".<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 7, 1928 |title=Reed Not To Be With Webb On New Ticket; Candidate Webb Sued Here For Bill For Meat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-reed-not-to-be-with-webb-on-ne/163646491/ |access-date=February 27, 2025 |work=The Times |page=1}}</ref> A third man, Dr. [[Henry Quincy Alexander|Henry Alexander]] of [[North Carolina]] was then nominated in Reed's stead, but on September 18 Alexander requested that his name be withdrawn from the ticket and he later endorsed Al Smith for the presidency.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-09-11 |title=Webb Is Given Running-Mate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/reno-gazette-journal-webb-is-given-runni/168253483/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |work=Reno Gazette-Journal |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/09/26/95838671.html?pageNumber=3 | title=Farmer-Laborite to Back Smith | work=The New York Times|date=September 26, 1928 }}</ref> At some point after [[LeRoy R. Tillman|LeRoy Tillman]], a nephew of the late Senator [[Benjamin Tillman]] of South Carolina, was nominated in Alexander's stead.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-09-05 |title=S.F. Man Named Standard-Bearer By Farmer-Labor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee-sf-man-named-standard-b/168253398/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |work=The Fresno Bee |pages=1}}</ref>

== General election ==
=== Fall campaign ===
[[Anti-Catholicism in the United States|Anti-Catholicism]] was a significant burden for Smith's campaign. Protestant ministers warned that he would take orders from the Pope, whom many Americans sincerely believed would move to the United States to rule the country from a fortress in Washington, DC. A popular joke of the time was that Smith sent a one-word telegram after the election to [[Pope Pius XI]] saying, "Unpack."<ref name="osullivan2006">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EnMVq0jcIUEC&pg=PA110 | title=The president, the Pope, and the prime minister: three who changed the world |last=O'Sullivan|first=John | author-link = John O'Sullivan (columnist) | year=2006 | publisher=Regnery | page=110 | isbn=1-59698-016-8}}</ref>{{r|slayton2001}} Beyond the conspiracy theories, a survey of 8,500 [[Southern Methodist Church]] ministers found only four who supported Smith, and the northern Methodists, Southern Baptists, and [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)|Disciples of Christ]] were similar in their opposition. Many voters who sincerely rejected bigotry and the anti-Catholic [[Ku Klux Klan]], which had declined during the 1920s until the 1928 campaign revived it, justified their opposition to Smith on their belief that the Catholic Church was an "un-American" and "alien culture" that opposed freedom and democracy.<ref name="slayton2001">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOahalX-CxQC&pg=PA309 | title=Empire statesman: the rise and redemption of Al Smith | last=Slayton|first=Robert A. | year=2001 | publisher=Simon and Schuster | pages=309–313, 317 | isbn=0-684-86302-2}}</ref>

An example was a statement issued in September 1928 by the National Lutheran Editors' and Managers' Association that opposed Smith's election. The manifesto, written by Dr. Clarence Reinhold Tappert, warned about "the peculiar relation in which a faithful Catholic stands and the absolute allegiance he owes to a 'foreign sovereign' who does not only 'claim' supremacy also in secular affairs as a matter of principle and theory but who, time and again, has endeavored to put this claim into practical operation." The Catholic Church, the manifesto asserted, was hostile to American principles of separation of church and state and of religious toleration.<ref>Douglas C. Strange, "Lutherans and Presidential Politics: The National Lutheran Editors' and Managers' Association Statement of 1928," ''Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly,'' Winter 1968, Vol. 41 Issue 4, pp 168-172</ref> Groups circulated a million copies of a counterfeit oath, claiming that fourth-degree [[Knights of Columbus]] members swore to exterminate Freemasons and Protestants and to commit violence against anyone if the church ordered.<ref name="time19280903">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928041,00.html | title=Great & Fake Oath | magazine=Time | date=1928-09-03 | access-date=6 February 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401043436/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928041,00.html | archive-date=2008-04-01}}</ref> Smith's opposition to Prohibition, a key reform promoted by Protestants, also lost him votes, as did his association with [[Tammany Hall]]. Because many anti-Catholics used the issues to cover for their religious prejudices, Smith's campaign had difficulty denouncing anti-Catholicism as [[bigotry]] without offending others who favored Prohibition or disliked Tammany corruption.{{r|slayton2001}}

Scott Farris notes that the anti-Catholicism of the American society was the sole reason behind Smith's defeat, as even contemporary Prohibition activists would admit that their main problem with the Democratic candidate was his faith and not any political view - [[Bob Jones Sr.]], a prominent Protestant pastor in [[South Carolina]], said: "I'll tell you, brother, that the big issue we've got to face ain't the liquor question. I'd rather see a saloon on every corner of the South than see the foreigners elect Al Smith president."<ref name="farris">{{cite book |last=Farris |first=Scott |year=2012 |title=Almost President: The Men Who Lost The Race But Changed The Nation |publisher= Lyons Press |isbn=9780762763788 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j1OBwAAQBAJ |location=Ottawa}}</ref> A Methodist newspaper in Georgia called Catholicism "a degenerate type of Christianity," while Southern Baptist churches ordered their followers to vote against Smith, claiming that he would close down Protestant churches, end freedom of worship and prohibit reading the Bible. Charles Hillman Fountain, a Protestant writer, insisted that Catholics should be barred from holding any office. Farris states that "More disturbing than the ridiculous and the dangerous was the respectable anti-Catholicism", as contemporary newspapers and Protestant churches tried to mask their anti-Catholicism as genuine concern. Protestant activists insisted that Catholicism represented an alien culture and medieval mentality, claiming that Catholicism was incompatible with American democracy and institutions. Catholics were portrayed as reactionary despite being more left-wing than mainstream American Protestant congregations at the time.<ref name="farris" /> [[William Allen White]], a renowned newspaper editor, warned that Catholicism would erode the moral standards of America, saying that "the whole Puritan civilization which has built a sturdy, orderly nation is threatened by Smith." While [[Herbert Hoover]] avoided raising the issue of Catholicism on the campaign trail, he defended the Protestant actions in a private letter:

{{blockquote|text=There are many people of intense Protestant faith to whom Catholicism is a grievous sin, and they have as much right to vote against a man for public office because of that belief. That is not persecution.<ref name="farris" />}}

Those issues made Smith lose several states of the [[Solid South]] that had been carried by Democrats since [[Reconstruction Era of the United States|Reconstruction]].<ref>[[Allan J. Lichtman]], ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928'' (1979)</ref> However, in many southern states with sizable African American populations, the vast majority of whom could not vote due to poll taxes, restricted primaries, and hostile local election officials, it was widely believed that Hoover supported integration or at least was not committed to maintaining [[racial segregation in the United States|segregation]]. This overcame opposition to Smith's campaign in areas with large nonvoting black populations. Mississippi Governor [[Theodore G. Bilbo]] claimed that Hoover had met with a black member of the [[Republican National Committee]] and danced with her. Hoover's campaign quickly denied the "untruthful and ignoble assertion".<ref name="hachten19281020">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z9U_AAAAIBAJ&pg=5134%2C3003841 | title=Hoover Spikes Dance Slander | access-date=March 31, 2011 | last=Hachten|first=Arthur | date=October 20, 1928 | newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel | page=6}}</ref>

Smith's religion helped him with Roman Catholic [[New England]] immigrants, especially Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans, which may have explained his narrow victories in traditionally-Republican Massachusetts and Rhode Island and his narrow loss in his home state of New York, where previous Democratic presidential candidates had lost by double digits, but Smith lost by only 2%.<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Haskell House Publishers | isbn = 978-0-8383-1427-2 | last = Rice | first = Arnold S.  | title = The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics | year = 1972}}</ref>

== Results ==
[[File:PresidentialCounty1928MarginColorbrewer.gif|right|thumb|upright=1.81|Results by county explicitly indicating the margin of victory for the winning candidate. Shades of red are for Hoover (Republican) and shades of blue are for Smith (Democratic), and shades of green are for "Other(s)" (Non-Democratic/Non-Republican), gray indicates zero recorded votes, and white indicates territories not elevated to statehood.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WaaAAAAIAAJ |title=The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932 – Google Books |publisher=Stanford University Press |access-date=August 12, 2014|year=1934|isbn=9780804716963 }}</ref>]]

The total vote exceeded that of [[1924 United States presidential election|1924]] by nearly eight million, which was nearly twice the vote cast in [[1916 United States presidential election|1916]] and nearly three times that of [[1896 United States presidential election|1896]]. Every section in the Union increased its vote although the [[Mountain States|Mountain]], [[East South Central States|East South Central]] and [[West South Central States|West South Central]] States did so least of all. The greatest increases were in the heavily populated [[Northeastern United States|(Northeastern)]] [[Mid-Atlantic states|Mid-Atlantic]] and [[East North Central States|East North Central]] States, where more than 4,250,000 more votes were cast, more than half of the nationwide increase. There was an increase of over a million each in New York and Pennsylvania.<ref name="robinson1932">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WaaAAAAIAAJ|title=The Presidential Vote 1896–1932|last=Robinson|first=Edgar Eugene|date=1947-01-01|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-1696-3|language=en}}</ref>
Much of the increase could be attributed to women voting in ever increasing numbers since gaining the national vote in 1920.

Hoover won 200 counties in the Southern United States while Smith won 122 traditionally Republican counties in the Northern United States, with 77 of those counties being majority Catholic. [[Warren G. Harding]] had won in all twelve cities with populations above 500,000 in the [[1920 United States presidential election|1920 election]], but Smith won in [[Cleveland]], [[Milwaukee]], [[New York City]], [[San Francisco]], and [[St. Louis]], and lost in [[Baltimore]] and [[Pittsburgh]] by less than 10,000 votes. Hoover won in the traditionally Democratic [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Dallas]], and [[Houston]]. Smith was the first Democratic nominee in the 20th century to win a majority of the twelve largest cities in the country. The net vote totals in the twelve largest cities shifted from Republican to Democratic with Harding having won by 1,540,000 in 1920, Coolidge by 1,308,000 in 1924, while Smith won by 210,000. [[Samuel Lubell]] wrote in ''The Future of American Politics'' that [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s victory in the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 election]] was preceded by Smith's increased vote totals in urban areas.<ref name="book">{{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>

Smith's results in the cities in the election improved upon [[John W. Davis]]' results in the 1924 election. The Democratic vote in [[Boston]] rose from 35.5% to 66.8%, in [[Milwaukee]] from 9.7% to 53.7%, in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]] from 10.1% to 51.2%, [[San Francisco]] from 6.4% to 49.4%, in [[Cleveland]] from 9.1% to 45.6%, in [[Chicago]] from 20.3% to 46.5%, in [[Pittsburgh]] from 8.7% to 42.4%, in Philadelphia from 12.1% to 39.5%, in [[Minneapolis]] from 6.3% to 38.8%, in [[Detroit]] from 7.1% to 36.8%, and in [[Seattle]] from 6.6% to 31.9%. In the boroughs of [[New York City]] the vote percentages rose from 33.6% to 67.7% in [[The Bronx]], 39.6% to 60.8% in [[Manhattan]], 31.9% to 59.5% in [[Brooklyn]], 31% to 53.4% in [[Queens]], and 42% to 53.4% in [[Staten Island]]. He improved in all of those cities from [[James M. Cox]]'s results in 1920.<ref name="book" />

Hoover won the election by a wide margin on pledges to continue the economic boom of the Coolidge years. He received more votes than any previous candidate of the Republican Party in every state except five: Rhode Island, Iowa, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Tennessee.<ref>The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 25</ref> The Hoover vote was greater than the Coolidge vote in 2,932 counties; it was less in 143 of the comparable counties.<ref>The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, p. 27</ref> The 21,400,000 votes cast for Hoover also touched the high-water mark for all votes for a presidential candidate until then and were an increase of more than 5,500,000 over the Coolidge vote four years earlier.<ref name="The Presidential Vote 1932, pg. 24" /> The Republican ticket made substantial inroads in the [[Southern United States|South]]: the heaviest Democratic losses were in the three Southern sections ([[South Atlantic States|South Atlantic]], East South Central, West South Central). The losses included 215 counties that had never before supported a Republican presidential candidate, distributed as follows: Alabama (14), Arkansas (5), Florida (22), Georgia (4), Kentucky (28), Maryland (3), Mississippi (1), Missouri (10), North Carolina (16), Tennessee (3), Texas (64), Virginia (26), West Virginia (4). In Georgia, eight counties recorded more votes cast for "anti-Smith" electors than either major-party candidate.<ref name="robinson1932" />

7.48% of Hoover's votes came from the eleven states of the former Confederacy, with him taking 47.41% of the vote in that region. This was the best showing for a Republican in that region at that point in time.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|p=263}} The electoral votes of North Carolina and Virginia had not been awarded to a Republican since [[1872 United States presidential election|1872]], and Florida had not been carried by a Republican since the heavily disputed election of [[1876 United States presidential election in Florida|1876]]. Texas was carried by a Republican for the first time in its history, which left Georgia as the only remaining state never carried by a Republican presidential candidate. Georgia would not be won by a Republican until [[1964 United States presidential election in Georgia|1964]], when [[Barry Goldwater]] carried the state. Smith also carried staunchly Democratic Alabama by barely 7,000 votes. In all, Smith carried only six of the eleven states of the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], the fewest carried by a Democratic candidate since the end of [[Reconstruction Era of the United States|Reconstruction]].

Smith polled more votes than had any previous Democratic candidate in 30 of the 48 states, all but Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. In only four of them (Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico) did Smith receive fewer votes than Davis had in 1924.<ref name="robinson1932" /> Historian [[Allan Lichtman]] notes that since the sole defining issue of the election was anti-Catholicism, it radically realigned states' voting patterns. Hoover carried Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia — none of which had backed a post-Reconstruction Republican, while Smith carried historically-Republican Massachusetts and Rhode Island despite the national Republican landslide. In doing so, Smith became the first Democrat to ever win a majority of the vote in Massachusetts, and the first since 1852 to win a majority in Rhode Island. Lichtman further proves this by pointing out that Smith and Hoover had very similar political views save for religion and Prohibition, and yet the 1928 election had a turnout of 57%, despite previous 1920s American elections having their turnouts below 50%.<ref name="farris" />

Smith received nearly as many votes as Coolidge had in 1924, and his vote exceeded Davis's by more than 6,500,000.<ref name="robinson1932" /> The Democratic vote was greater than in 1924 in 2080 counties and fell in 997 counties. In only one section did the Democratic vote drop below 38%, the [[Pacific States|Pacific]], which was the only one in which the Republican vote exceeded 60%. However, the Democrats made gains in five sections; of those counties, fourteen had never been Democratic and seven had been Democratic only once. The size and the nature of the distribution of the Democratic vote illustrated Smith's strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. Despite evidence of an increased Democratic vote, Smith's overwhelming defeat in the [[electoral college (United States)|electoral college]] and the retention of so few Democratic counties reflected Hoover's greater appeal. Smith won the electoral votes of only the [[Deep South]] of the Democratic [[Solid South]], Robinson's home state of Arkansas, and the [[New England]] states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, both of which had a large proportion of Catholic voters. His 87 electoral votes were the fewest that a Democratic candidate had won since the 80 votes earned by [[Horatio Seymour]] in [[1868 United States presidential election|1868]]. Hoover even carried Smith's home state of New York by a narrow margin. Smith carried 914 counties, the fewest in the [[Fourth Party System]]. The Republican total leaped to 2,174 counties, a larger number than even the 1920 landslide.<ref name="robinson1932" />

Third-party support sank almost to the vanishing point, as the election of 1928 proved to be a two-party contest to a greater extent than any other in the Fourth Party System. Until the major split before the [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 election]] in the Democratic Party between [[Southern Democrats]] and the more liberal Northern faction, no further significant third-party candidacies as seen in 1912 and 1924 were to occur. All "other" votes totaled only 1.08 percent of the national popular vote. The [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] vote sank to 267,478, and in seven states, there were no Socialist votes.<ref name="robinson1932" />

It was the last election in which the Republicans won North Carolina until 1968, the last in which they won Kentucky and West Virginia until 1956, the last in which they won Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington until 1952, the last in which they won Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon until 1948, and the last in which they won Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming until 1944.

[[File: United States Electoral College 1928.svg]]

{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Herbert Hoover]]| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=California| pv=21,427,123| pv_pct=58.11%| ev=444| vp_name=[[Charles Curtis]]| vp_state=Kansas}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Al Smith]]| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=New York| pv=15,015,464| pv_pct=40.90%| ev=87| vp_name=[[Joseph T. Robinson]]| vp_state=Arkansas}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Norman Thomas]]| party=[[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]]| state=New York| pv=267,478| pv_pct=0.73%| ev=0| vp_name=[[James H. Maurer]]| vp_state=Pennsylvania}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[William Z. Foster]]| party=[[Communist Party USA|Communist]]| state=Massachusetts| pv=47,351| pv_pct=0.12%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Benjamin Gitlow]]| vp_state=New York}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Verne L. Reynolds]]| party=[[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]]| state=Michigan| pv=21,589| pv_pct=0.06%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Jeremiah D. Crowley]]| vp_state=New York| }}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[William F. Varney]]| party=[[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]]| state=New York| pv=20,095| pv_pct=0.05%| ev=0| vp_name=[[James A. Edgerton]]| vp_state=Virginia}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Frank Elbridge Webb|Frank Webb]]| party=[[Farmer–Labor Party (United States)|Farmer-Labor]]| state=California| pv=7,591| pv_pct=0.03%| ev=0| vp_name=LeRoy R. Tillman| vp_state=Georgia| }}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv=321| pv_pct=0.00%}}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=36,807,012| ev=531| to_win=266}}

'''Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source 2| year=1928| as of=July 28, 2005}}

'''Source (Electoral Vote):''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1928| as of=July 28, 2005}}

{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Hoover'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|58.21}}
{{bar percent|Smith|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|40.80}}
{{bar percent|Thomas|#CD3700|0.73}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.26}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Hoover'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|83.62}}
{{bar percent|Smith|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|16.38}}
}}

=== Geography of results ===
[[File:1928 Electoral Map.png|upright=2.95|thumb|left]]
<gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px">
File:1928 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:PresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Map of presidential election results by county
File:RepublicanPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Map of Republican presidential election results by county
File:DemocraticPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Map of Democratic presidential election results by county
File:OtherPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Map of "other" presidential election results by county
File:CartogramPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|[[Cartogram]] of presidential election results by county
File:CartogramRepublicanPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Cartogram of Republican presidential election results by county
File:CartogramDemocraticPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Cartogram of Democratic presidential election results by county
File:CartogramOtherPresidentialCounty1928Colorbrewer.gif|Cartogram of "other" presidential election results by county
</gallery>

=== Results by state ===
Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1928&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1928 Presidential General Election Data – National|access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|States/districts won by [[Al Smith|Smith]]/[[Joseph Taylor Robinson|Robinson]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|States/districts won by [[Herbert Hoover|Hoover]]/[[Charles Curtis|Curtis]]
|}<div style="overflow:auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Herbert Hoover<br />Republican
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Al Smith<br />Democratic
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Norman Thomas<br />Socialist
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| William Foster<br />Communist
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Verne Reynolds<br />Socialist 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" | 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;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 120,725
| 48.49
| -
| 127,797
| 51.33
| 12
| 460
| 0.18
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -7,072
| -2.84
| 248,982
| style="text-align:center;" | AL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Arizona|Arizona]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 52,533
| 57.57
| 3
| 38,537
| 42.23
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 184
| 0.20
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 13,996
| 15.34
| 91,254
| style="text-align:center;" | AZ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 77,751
| 39.33
| -
| 119,196
| 60.29
| 9
| 429
| 0.22
| -
| 317
| 0.16
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -41,445
| -20.96
| 197,693
| style="text-align:center;" | AR
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in California|California]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 1,162,323
| 64.69
| 13
| 614,365
| 34.19
| -
| 19,595
| 1.09
| -
| 112
| 0.01
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 547,958
| 30.50
| 1,796,656
| style="text-align:center;" | CA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 253,872
| 64.72
| 6
| 133,131
| 33.94
| -
| 3,472
| 0.89
| -
| 675
| 0.17
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 120,741
| 30.78
| 392,242
| style="text-align:center;" | CO
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 296,614
| 53.63
| 7
| 252,040
| 45.57
| -
| 3,019
| 0.55
| -
| 730
| 0.13
| -
| 622
| 0.11
| -
| 44,574
| 8.06
| 553,031
| style="text-align:center;" | CT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 68,860
| 65.03
| 3
| 36,643
| 34.60
| -
| 329
| 0.31
| -
| 59
| 0.06
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 32,217
| 30.42
| 105,891
| style="text-align:center;" | DE
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 144,168
| 56.83
| 6
| 101,764
| 40.12
| -
| 4,036
| 1.59
| -
| 3,704
| 1.46
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 42,404
| 16.72
| 253,672
| style="text-align:center;" | FL
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
| 99,369
| 43.36
| -
| 129,602
| 56.56
| 14
| 124
| 0.05
| -
| 64
| 0.03
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -30,233
| -13.19
| 229,159
| style="text-align:center;" | GA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Idaho|Idaho]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 97,322
| 64.22
| 4
| 52,926
| 34.93
| -
| 1,293
| 0.85
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 44,396
| 29.30
| 151,541
| style="text-align:center;" | ID
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 29
| 1,769,141
| 56.93
| 29
| 1,313,817
| 42.28
| -
| 19,138
| 0.62
| -
| 3,581
| 0.12
| -
| 1,812
| 0.06
| -
| 455,324
| 14.65
| 3,107,489
| style="text-align:center;" | IL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
| 848,290
| 59.68
| 15
| 562,691
| 39.59
| -
| 3,871
| 0.27
| -
| 321
| 0.02
| -
| 645
| 0.05
| -
| 285,599
| 20.09
| 1,421,314
| style="text-align:center;" | IN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 623,570
| 61.77
| 13
| 379,311
| 37.57
| -
| 2,960
| 0.29
| -
| 328
| 0.03
| -
| 230
| 0.02
| -
| 244,259
| 24.20
| 1,009,489
| style="text-align:center;" | IA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 513,672
| 72.02
| 10
| 193,003
| 27.06
| -
| 6,205
| 0.87
| -
| 320
| 0.04
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 320,669
| 44.96
| 713,200
| style="text-align:center;" | KS
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 558,064
| 59.33
| 13
| 381,070
| 40.51
| -
| 837
| 0.09
| -
| 293
| 0.03
| -
| 340
| 0.04
| -
| 176,994
| 18.82
| 940,604
| style="text-align:center;" | KY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 51,160
| 23.70
| -
| 164,655
| 76.29
| 10
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -113,495
| -52.58
| 215,833
| style="text-align:center;" | LA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 179,923
| 68.63
| 6
| 81,179
| 30.96
| -
| 1,068
| 0.41
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 98,744
| 37.66
| 262,171
| style="text-align:center;" | ME
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 301,479
| 57.06
| 8
| 223,626
| 42.33
| -
| 1,701
| 0.32
| -
| 636
| 0.12
| -
| 906
| 0.17
| -
| 77,853
| 14.74
| 528,348
| style="text-align:center;" | MD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 18
| 775,566
| 49.15
| -
| 792,758
| 50.24
| 18
| 6,262
| 0.40
| -
| 2,461
| 0.16
| -
| 772
| 0.05
| -
| -17,192
| -1.09
| 1,577,823
| style="text-align:center;" | MA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
| 965,396
| 70.36
| 15
| 396,762
| 28.92
| -
| 3,516
| 0.26
| -
| 2,881
| 0.21
| -
| 799
| 0.06
| -
| 568,634
| 41.44
| 1,372,082
| style="text-align:center;" | MI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 560,977
| 57.77
| 12
| 396,451
| 40.83
| -
| 6,774
| 0.70
| -
| 4,853
| 0.50
| -
| 1,921
| 0.20
| -
| 164,526
| 16.94
| 970,976
| style="text-align:center;" | MN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 27,153
| 17.90
| -
| 124,539
| 82.10
| 10
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -97,386
| -64.20
| 151,692
| style="text-align:center;" | MS
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 18
| 834,080
| 55.58
| 18
| 662,562
| 44.15
| -
| 3,739
| 0.25
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 340
| 0.02
| -
| 171,518
| 11.43
| 1,500,721
| style="text-align:center;" | MO
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Montana|Montana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 113,300
| 58.37
| 4
| 78,578
| 40.48
| -
| 1,667
| 0.86
| -
| 563
| 0.29
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 34,722
| 17.89
| 194,108
| style="text-align:center;" | MT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 345,745
| 63.19
| 8
| 197,959
| 36.18
| -
| 3,434
| 0.63
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 147,786
| 27.01
| 547,144
| style="text-align:center;" | NE
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 18,327
| 56.54
| 3
| 14,090
| 43.46
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 4,237
| 13.07
| 32,417
| style="text-align:center;" | NV
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 115,404
| 58.65
| 4
| 80,715
| 41.02
| -
| 465
| 0.24
| -
| 173
| 0.09
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 34,689
| 17.63
| 196,757
| style="text-align:center;" | NH
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
| 925,285
| 59.77
| 14
| 616,162
| 39.80
| -
| 4,866
| 0.31
| -
| 1,240
| 0.08
| -
| 488
| 0.03
| -
| 309,123
| 19.97
| 1,548,195
| style="text-align:center;" | NJ
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in New Mexico|New Mexico]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 69,645
| 59.01
| 3
| 48,211
| 40.85
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 158
| 0.13
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 21,434
| 18.16
| 118,014
| style="text-align:center;" | NM
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 45
| 2,193,344
| 49.79
| 45
| 2,089,863
| 47.44
| -
| 107,332
| 2.44
| -
| 10,876
| 0.25
| -
| 4,211
| 0.10
| -
| 103,481
| 2.35
| 4,405,626
| style="text-align:center;" | NY
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 348,923
| 54.94
| 12
| 286,227
| 45.06
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 62,696
| 9.87
| 635,150
| style="text-align:center;" | NC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in North Dakota|North Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 131,441
| 54.80
| 5
| 106,648
| 44.46
| -
| 936
| 0.39
| -
| 842
| 0.35
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 24,793
| 10.34
| 239,867
| style="text-align:center;" | ND
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 24
| 1,627,546
| 64.89
| 24
| 864,210
| 34.45
| -
| 8,683
| 0.35
| -
| 2,836
| 0.11
| -
| 1,515
| 0.06
| -
| 763,336
| 30.43
| 2,508,346
| style="text-align:center;" | OH
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 394,046
| 63.72
| 10
| 219,174
| 35.44
| -
| 3,924
| 0.63
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 174,872
| 28.28
| 618,427
| style="text-align:center;" | OK
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 205,341
| 64.18
| 5
| 109,223
| 34.14
| -
| 2,720
| 0.85
| -
| 1,094
| 0.34
| -
| 1,564
| 0.49
| -
| 96,118
| 30.04
| 319,942
| style="text-align:center;" | OR
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 38
| 2,055,382
| 65.24
| 38
| 1,067,586
| 33.89
| -
| 18,647
| 0.59
| -
| 4,726
| 0.15
| -
| 380
| 0.01
| -
| 987,796
| 31.35
| 3,150,610
| style="text-align:center;" | PA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 117,522
| 49.55
| -
| 118,973
| 50.16
| 5
| -
| -
| -
| 283
| 0.12
| -
| 416
| 0.18
| -
| -1,451
| -0.61
| 237,194
| style="text-align:center;" | RI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 5,858
| 8.54
| -
| 62,700
| 91.39
| 9
| 47
| 0.07
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -56,842
| -82.85
| 68,605
| style="text-align:center;" | SC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in South Dakota|South Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 157,603
| 60.18
| 5
| 102,660
| 39.20
| -
| 443
| 0.17
| -
| 232
| 0.09
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 54,943
| 20.98
| 261,865
| style="text-align:center;" | SD
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 195,388
| 53.76
| 12
| 167,343
| 46.04
| -
| 631
| 0.17
| -
| 111
| 0.03
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 28,045
| 7.72
| 363,473
| style="text-align:center;" | TN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 20
| 367,036
| 51.77
| 20
| 341,032
| 48.10
| -
| 722
| 0.10
| -
| 209
| 0.03
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 26,004
| 3.67
| 708,999
| style="text-align:center;" | TX
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 94,618
| 53.58
| 4
| 80,985
| 45.86
| -
| 954
| 0.54
| -
| 46
| 0.03
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 13,633
| 7.72
| 176,603
| style="text-align:center;" | UT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 90,404
| 66.87
| 4
| 44,440
| 32.87
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 45,964
| 34.00
| 135,191
| style="text-align:center;" | VT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 164,609
| 53.91
| 12
| 140,146
| 45.90
| -
| 250
| 0.08
| -
| 173
| 0.06
| -
| 180
| 0.06
| -
| 24,463
| 8.01
| 305,358
| style="text-align:center;" | VA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Washington (state)|Washington]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 335,844
| 67.06
| 7
| 156,772
| 31.30
| -
| 2,615
| 0.52
| -
| 1,541
| 0.31
| -
| 4,068
| 0.81
| -
| 179,072
| 35.75
| 500,840
| style="text-align:center;" | WA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 375,551
| 58.43
| 8
| 263,784
| 41.04
| -
| 1,313
| 0.20
| -
| 401
| 0.06
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 111,767
| 17.39
| 642,752
| style="text-align:center;" | WV
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 544,205
| 53.52
| 13
| 450,259
| 44.28
| -
| 18,213
| 1.79
| -
| 1,528
| 0.15
| -
| 381
| 0.04
| -
| 93,946
| 9.24
| 1,016,831
| style="text-align:center;" | WI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1928 United States presidential election in Wyoming|Wyoming]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 52,748
| 63.68
| 3
| 29,299
| 35.37
| -
| 788
| 0.95
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 23,449
| 28.31
| 82,835
| style="text-align:center;" | WY
|-
! TOTALS:
! 531
! 21,427,123
! 58.21
! 444
! 15,015,464
! 40.80
! 87
! 267,478
! 0.73
! -
! 48,551
! 0.13
! -
! 21,590
! 0.06
! -
! 6,411,659
! 17.42
! 36,807,012
| style="text-align:center;" | US
|}</div>

====States that flipped from Democratic to Republican====
*[[Florida]]
*[[North Carolina]]
*[[Oklahoma]]
*[[Tennessee]]
*[[Texas]]
*[[Virginia]]

====States that flipped from Progressive to Republican====
*[[Wisconsin]]

====States that flipped from Republican to Democratic====
*[[Massachusetts]]
*[[Rhode Island]]

==== Close states ====
Margin of victory less than 1% (5 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Rhode Island, 0.61% (1,451 votes)'''</span>

Margin of victory less than 5% (95 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Massachusetts, 1.09% (17,192 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''New York, 2.35% (103,481 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Alabama, 2.84% (7,072 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Texas, 3.67% (26,004 votes)'''</span>

Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (60 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Utah, 7.72% (13,633 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Tennessee, 7.72% (28,045 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Virginia, 8.01% (24,463 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Connecticut, 8.06% (44,574 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Wisconsin, 9.24% (93,946 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''North Carolina, 9.87% (62,696 votes)'''</span>

Tipping point state:
# <span style="color:red;">'''Illinois, 14.65% (455,324 votes)'''</span>

==== Statistics ====
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Jackson County, Kentucky]] 96.52%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Leslie County, Kentucky]] 94.51%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Alpine County, California]] 94.23%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Johnson County, Tennessee]] 93.74%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Sevier County, Tennessee]] 92.57%</span>'''

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Jackson Parish, Louisiana]] 100.00%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Armstrong County, South Dakota]] 100.00%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Humphreys County, Mississippi]] 99.90%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Edgefield County, South Carolina]] 99.67%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Bamberg County, South Carolina]] 99.49%</span>'''
<!-- WRONG COUNTIES AND WRONG YEAR. SEE STATE ARTICLE CITATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL COUNTY ARTICLES Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Alachua County, Florida]] 62.63%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Appling County, Georgia]] 58.25%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Long County, Georgia]] 57.32%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Decatur County, Georgia]] 46.03%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Jefferson County, Georgia]] 43.67%</span>'''
-->

==See also==
* [[History of the United States (1918–1945)]]
* [[Inauguration of Herbert Hoover]]
* [[1928 United States House of Representatives elections]]
* [[1928 United States Senate elections]]
* [[Al Smith 1928 presidential campaign]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Works cited==
* {{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}}

==Further reading==
{{Further|1920 United States elections#Further reading}}
* [[Kristi Andersen|Andersen, Kristi]]. ''The Creation of a Democratic Majority: 1928–1936.'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997)
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis.  "The Communist Party in the Presidential Election of 1928," ''Western Political Quarterly,''  (1958), 11#3 pp.&nbsp;514–538. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/444564 In JSTOR]
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis.  ''Labor Politics in a Democratic Republic: Moderation, Division, and Disruption in the Presidential Election of 1928'' (1964)
*[http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100831140 Chiles, Robert. 2018. ''The Revolution of '28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal''. Cornell University Press.]
* Coffman, Elesha. "The 'Religious Issue' in Presidential Politics." ''American Catholic Studies'' (2008) 119#4 pp 1–20
* Craig, Douglas B. ''After Wilson: The Struggle for Control of the Democratic Party, 1920–1934.'' (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993)
* Doherty, Herbert J. "Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928." The Florida Historical Quarterly 26.2 (1947): 174–186.
* Goldberg, David Joseph. ''Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s.'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999)
* Hostetler, Michael J.  "Gov. Al Smith Confronts the Catholic Question: The Rhetorical Legacy of the 1928 Campaign" ''Communication Quarterly'', Vol. 46, 1998.
* [[Allan Lichtman|Lichtman, Allan]], ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
* Moore, Edmund A.  ''A Catholic Runs for President: The Campaign of 1928.'' Ronald Press, 1956.
* Rulli, Daniel F. "Campaigning in 1928: Chickens in Pots and Cars in Backyards," ''Teaching History: A Journal of Methods,'' Vol. 31, no. 1 (2006), pp.&nbsp;42+
* Slayton, Robert A. ''Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith.'' New York: Free Press, 2001.
* Sweeney, James R. "Rum, Romanism, and Virginia Democrats: The Party Leaders and the Campaign of 1928." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 90 (1982): 403–31. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248587 in JSTOR]

=== Primary sources ===
* Hoover, Herbert. ''The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency'', 1920–1933 (1952),
* Smith, Alfred E. ''Campaign Addresses'' 1929.
* 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, 1840-1964'' (1965) [https://archive.org/details/nationalpartypla00port online 1840-1956]

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1928.htm 1928 popular vote by counties]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225157/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1928/ Election of 1928 in Counting the Votes]

{{USPresidentialElections}}
{{United States presidential election, 1928}}
{{State Results of the 1928 U.S. presidential election}}
{{Socialist Party of America}}
{{Herbert Hoover}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1928 United States presidential election| ]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholicism in the United States]]
[[Category:Presidency of Herbert Hoover]]
[[Category:Al Smith]]
[[Category:Herbert Hoover]]