| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
County results
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1908 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 3, 1908. All contemporary 46 states were part of the1908 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 12 electors to theElectoral College, which selected thepresident andvice president.
For over a century afterthe Civil War,Tennessee was divided according to political loyalties established in that war.Unionist regions covering almost all ofEast Tennessee,Kentucky Pennyroyal-alliedMacon County, and the fiveWest TennesseeHighland Rim counties ofCarroll,Henderson,McNairy,Hardin andWayne[1] voted Republican – generally by landslide margins – as they saw the Democratic Party as the “war party” who had forced them into a war they did not wish to fight.[2] Contrariwise, the rest ofMiddle and West Tennessee who had supported and driven the state's secession was equally fiercely Democratic as it associated the Republicans withReconstruction.[3] Afterthe disfranchisement of the state's African-American population bya poll tax was largely complete in the 1890s,[4] the Democratic Party was certain of winning statewide elections if united,[5] although unlike the Deep South Republicans would almost always gain thirty to forty percent of the statewide vote from mountain and Highland Rim support.
Tennessee was won by theDemocratic nominees, former RepresentativeWilliam Jennings Bryan ofNebraska and his running mateJohn W. Kern ofIndiana. They defeated theRepublican Party nominees,William Howard Taft and his running mateJames S. Sherman ofNew York. Bryan won the state by a margin of 6.86%.
In October 1908, Taft would in October become the first Republican candidate to tour the South, visiting Tennessee and North Carolina.[6] Aided by opposition by developing manufacturers to Bryan'spopulism,[6] and by his willingness to accept black disfranchisement,[7] Taft gained noticeably given the extremely deep-rooted partisan loyalties established by the Civil War. WhereasTheodore Roosevelt had lost Tennessee by 10.83 percent in1904, Taft, although doing worse nationally, lost only by 6.86 percentage points.
Bryan had previously won Tennessee againstWilliam McKinley in both1896 and1900.
| 1908 United States presidential election in Tennessee[8] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | William Jennings Bryan | 135,608 | 52.73% | 12 | |
| Republican | William Howard Taft | 117,977 | 45.87% | 0 | |
| Social Democratic | Eugene V. Debs | 1,870 | 0.73% | 0 | |
| Populist | Thomas E. Watson | 1,092 | 0.42% | 0 | |
| Independence | Thomas L. Hisgen | 332 | 0.13% | 0 | |
| Prohibition | Eugene W. Chafin | 301 | 0.12% | 0 | |
| Totals | 257,180 | 100.00% | 12 | ||
| Voter turnout | — | ||||
| 1908 United States presidential election in Tennessee by county[9] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | William Jennings Bryan Democratic | William Howard Taft Republican | Eugene Victor Debs Socialist | Thomas Edward Watson Populist | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Anderson | 632 | 23.64% | 2,022 | 75.65% | 15 | 0.56% | 2 | 0.07% | 2 | 0.07% | -1,390 | -52.00% | 2,673 |
| Bedford | 1,996 | 57.91% | 1,446 | 41.95% | 3 | 0.09% | 2 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 550 | 15.96% | 3,447 |
| Benton | 1,221 | 57.06% | 860 | 40.19% | 6 | 0.28% | 53 | 2.48% | 0 | 0.00% | 361 | 16.87% | 2,140 |
| Bledsoe | 295 | 40.75% | 425 | 58.70% | 1 | 0.14% | 3 | 0.41% | 0 | 0.00% | -130 | -17.96% | 724 |
| Blount | 847 | 24.67% | 2,568 | 74.80% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 18 | 0.52% | -1,721 | -50.13% | 3,433 |
| Bradley | 620 | 36.17% | 1,063 | 62.02% | 18 | 1.05% | 9 | 0.53% | 4 | 0.23% | -443 | -25.85% | 1,714 |
| Campbell | 530 | 21.99% | 1,806 | 74.94% | 30 | 1.24% | 6 | 0.25% | 38 | 1.58% | -1,276 | -52.95% | 2,410 |
| Cannon | 904 | 57.18% | 672 | 42.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.25% | 1 | 0.06% | 232 | 14.67% | 1,581 |
| Carroll | 1,802 | 43.10% | 2,290 | 54.77% | 18 | 0.43% | 71 | 1.70% | 0 | 0.00% | -488 | -11.67% | 4,181 |
| Carter | 459 | 12.70% | 3,152 | 87.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.11% | -2,693 | -74.50% | 3,615 |
| Cheatham | 1,206 | 69.55% | 526 | 30.33% | 2 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 680 | 39.22% | 1,734 |
| Chester | 703 | 50.79% | 577 | 41.69% | 10 | 0.72% | 94 | 6.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 126 | 9.10% | 1,384 |
| Claiborne | 971 | 36.96% | 1,637 | 62.31% | 0 | 0.00% | 14 | 0.53% | 5 | 0.19% | -666 | -25.35% | 2,627 |
| Clay | 764 | 54.07% | 634 | 44.87% | 4 | 0.28% | 10 | 0.71% | 1 | 0.07% | 130 | 9.20% | 1,413 |
| Cocke | 688 | 27.93% | 1,749 | 71.01% | 6 | 0.24% | 11 | 0.45% | 9 | 0.37% | -1,061 | -43.08% | 2,463 |
| Coffee | 1,654 | 70.50% | 656 | 27.96% | 30 | 1.28% | 1 | 0.04% | 5 | 0.21% | 998 | 42.54% | 2,346 |
| Crockett | 1,226 | 50.43% | 1,205 | 49.57% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 21 | 0.86% | 2,431 |
| Cumberland | 479 | 32.17% | 1,010 | 67.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -531 | -35.66% | 1,489 |
| Davidson | 8,309 | 73.98% | 2,721 | 24.23% | 157 | 1.40% | 18 | 0.16% | 27 | 0.24% | 5,588 | 49.75% | 11,232 |
| DeKalb | 1,284 | 46.66% | 1,464 | 53.20% | 2 | 0.07% | 1 | 0.04% | 1 | 0.04% | -180 | -6.54% | 2,752 |
| Decatur | 845 | 46.87% | 958 | 53.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -113 | -6.27% | 1,803 |
| Dickson | 1,499 | 60.76% | 899 | 36.44% | 56 | 2.27% | 11 | 0.45% | 2 | 0.08% | 600 | 24.32% | 2,467 |
| Dyer | 1,786 | 71.87% | 672 | 27.04% | 20 | 0.80% | 7 | 0.28% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,114 | 44.83% | 2,485 |
| Fayette | 1,849 | 98.88% | 4 | 0.21% | 3 | 0.16% | 14 | 0.75% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,835[a] | 98.13% | 1,870 |
| Fentress | 332 | 26.95% | 894 | 72.56% | 6 | 0.49% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -562 | -45.62% | 1,232 |
| Franklin | 2,168 | 74.71% | 716 | 24.67% | 15 | 0.52% | 1 | 0.03% | 2 | 0.07% | 1,452 | 50.03% | 2,902 |
| Gibson | 3,173 | 69.39% | 1,369 | 29.94% | 3 | 0.07% | 26 | 0.57% | 2 | 0.04% | 1,804 | 39.45% | 4,573 |
| Giles | 3,042 | 65.87% | 1,571 | 34.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,471 | 31.85% | 4,618 |
| Grainger | 673 | 33.77% | 1,309 | 65.68% | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.25% | 6 | 0.30% | -636 | -31.91% | 1,993 |
| Greene | 1,886 | 48.08% | 2,027 | 51.67% | 1 | 0.03% | 2 | 0.05% | 7 | 0.18% | -141 | -3.59% | 3,923 |
| Grundy | 576 | 58.72% | 261 | 26.61% | 134 | 13.66% | 10 | 1.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 315 | 32.11% | 981 |
| Hamblen | 795 | 44.34% | 991 | 55.27% | 1 | 0.06% | 3 | 0.17% | 3 | 0.17% | -196 | -10.93% | 1,793 |
| Hamilton | 4,564 | 50.08% | 4,250 | 46.64% | 208 | 2.28% | 12 | 0.13% | 79 | 0.87% | 314 | 3.45% | 9,113 |
| Hancock | 370 | 20.95% | 1,396 | 79.05% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,026 | -58.10% | 1,766 |
| Hardeman | 1,568 | 72.32% | 553 | 25.51% | 14 | 0.65% | 33 | 1.52% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,015 | 46.82% | 2,168 |
| Hardin | 720 | 37.72% | 1,132 | 59.30% | 9 | 0.47% | 42 | 2.20% | 6 | 0.31% | -412 | -21.58% | 1,909 |
| Hawkins | 1,152 | 40.49% | 1,693 | 59.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -541 | -19.02% | 2,845 |
| Haywood | 1,215 | 84.91% | 189 | 13.21% | 27 | 1.89% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,026 | 71.70% | 1,431 |
| Henderson | 900 | 43.48% | 1,148 | 55.46% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 22 | 1.06% | -248 | -11.98% | 2,070 |
| Henry | 2,369 | 68.15% | 1,069 | 30.75% | 18 | 0.52% | 10 | 0.29% | 10 | 0.29% | 1,300 | 37.40% | 3,476 |
| Hickman | 1,285 | 54.15% | 1,065 | 44.88% | 18 | 0.76% | 4 | 0.17% | 1 | 0.04% | 220 | 9.27% | 2,373 |
| Houston | 665 | 68.00% | 288 | 29.45% | 25 | 2.56% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 377 | 38.55% | 978 |
| Humphreys | 1,301 | 65.25% | 679 | 34.05% | 14 | 0.70% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 622 | 31.19% | 1,994 |
| Jackson | 1,404 | 59.14% | 966 | 40.69% | 2 | 0.08% | 2 | 0.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 438 | 18.45% | 2,374 |
| James | 217 | 26.27% | 608 | 73.61% | 1 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -391 | -47.34% | 826 |
| Jefferson | 662 | 25.00% | 1,962 | 74.09% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.15% | 20 | 0.76% | -1,300 | -49.09% | 2,648 |
| Johnson | 232 | 9.74% | 2,148 | 90.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.04% | -1,916 | -80.47% | 2,381 |
| Knox | 4,090 | 39.77% | 5,817 | 56.56% | 159 | 1.55% | 39 | 0.38% | 180 | 1.75% | -1,727 | -16.79% | 10,285 |
| Lake | 464 | 71.27% | 178 | 27.34% | 9 | 1.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 286 | 43.93% | 651 |
| Lauderdale | 1,315 | 70.85% | 519 | 27.96% | 22 | 1.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 796 | 42.89% | 1,856 |
| Lawrence | 1,591 | 47.78% | 1,725 | 51.80% | 12 | 0.36% | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 0.06% | -134 | -4.02% | 3,330 |
| Lewis | 465 | 56.64% | 354 | 43.12% | 2 | 0.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 111 | 13.52% | 821 |
| Lincoln | 2,311 | 75.03% | 692 | 22.47% | 4 | 0.13% | 64 | 2.08% | 9 | 0.29% | 1,619 | 52.56% | 3,080 |
| Loudon | 444 | 30.62% | 986 | 68.00% | 5 | 0.34% | 5 | 0.34% | 10 | 0.69% | -542 | -37.38% | 1,450 |
| Macon | 684 | 29.67% | 1,594 | 69.15% | 3 | 0.13% | 24 | 1.04% | 0 | 0.00% | -910 | -39.48% | 2,305 |
| Madison | 2,409 | 61.98% | 1,357 | 34.91% | 45 | 1.16% | 75 | 1.93% | 1 | 0.03% | 1,052 | 27.06% | 3,887 |
| Marion | 842 | 43.18% | 1,074 | 55.08% | 29 | 1.49% | 3 | 0.15% | 2 | 0.10% | -232 | -11.90% | 1,950 |
| Marshall | 1,544 | 74.77% | 440 | 21.31% | 4 | 0.19% | 71 | 3.44% | 6 | 0.29% | 1,104 | 53.46% | 2,065 |
| Maury | 2,324 | 77.91% | 620 | 20.78% | 11 | 0.37% | 22 | 0.74% | 6 | 0.20% | 1,704 | 57.12% | 2,983 |
| McMinn | 926 | 40.90% | 1,320 | 58.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 13 | 0.57% | 5 | 0.22% | -394 | -17.40% | 2,264 |
| McNairy | 1,057 | 44.10% | 1,300 | 54.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 37 | 1.54% | 3 | 0.13% | -243 | -10.14% | 2,397 |
| Meigs | 464 | 50.16% | 457 | 49.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.43% | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 0.76% | 925 |
| Monroe | 1,406 | 43.38% | 1,827 | 56.37% | 8 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -421 | -12.99% | 3,241 |
| Montgomery | 2,961 | 60.17% | 1,903 | 38.67% | 17 | 0.35% | 28 | 0.57% | 12 | 0.24% | 1,058 | 21.50% | 4,921 |
| Moore | 677 | 86.35% | 103 | 13.14% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.38% | 1 | 0.13% | 574 | 73.21% | 784 |
| Morgan | 496 | 28.54% | 1,236 | 71.12% | 1 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.29% | -740 | -42.58% | 1,738 |
| Obion | 2,258 | 75.52% | 711 | 23.78% | 10 | 0.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 11 | 0.37% | 1,547 | 51.74% | 2,990 |
| Overton | 1,401 | 56.63% | 1,008 | 40.74% | 65 | 2.63% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 393 | 15.89% | 2,474 |
| Perry | 756 | 52.28% | 678 | 46.89% | 12 | 0.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 78 | 5.39% | 1,446 |
| Pickett | 391 | 43.06% | 517 | 56.94% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -126 | -13.88% | 908 |
| Polk | 747 | 38.87% | 1,175 | 61.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -428 | -22.27% | 1,922 |
| Putnam | 1,632 | 53.35% | 1,419 | 46.39% | 5 | 0.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.10% | 213 | 6.96% | 3,059 |
| Rhea | 883 | 46.74% | 995 | 52.67% | 4 | 0.21% | 2 | 0.11% | 5 | 0.26% | -112 | -5.93% | 1,889 |
| Roane | 595 | 26.23% | 1,524 | 67.20% | 113 | 4.98% | 18 | 0.79% | 18 | 0.79% | -929 | -40.96% | 2,268 |
| Robertson | 2,418 | 75.85% | 755 | 23.68% | 6 | 0.19% | 7 | 0.22% | 2 | 0.06% | 1,663 | 52.16% | 3,188 |
| Rutherford | 2,764 | 69.27% | 1,226 | 30.73% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,538 | 38.55% | 3,990 |
| Scott | 190 | 8.85% | 1,932 | 89.99% | 25 | 1.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,742 | -81.14% | 2,147 |
| Sequatchie | 394 | 61.28% | 249 | 38.72% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 145 | 22.55% | 643 |
| Sevier | 291 | 8.50% | 3,130 | 91.44% | 2 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,839 | -82.94% | 3,423 |
| Shelby | 7,411 | 68.90% | 3,069 | 28.53% | 239 | 2.22% | 14 | 0.13% | 23 | 0.21% | 4,342 | 40.37% | 10,756 |
| Smith | 1,638 | 59.13% | 1,056 | 38.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 69 | 2.49% | 7 | 0.25% | 582 | 21.01% | 2,770 |
| Stewart | 1,475 | 64.49% | 715 | 31.26% | 97 | 4.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 760 | 33.23% | 2,287 |
| Sullivan | 2,393 | 56.16% | 1,836 | 43.09% | 2 | 0.05% | 11 | 0.26% | 19 | 0.45% | 557 | 13.07% | 4,261 |
| Sumner | 2,343 | 76.97% | 673 | 22.11% | 11 | 0.36% | 12 | 0.39% | 5 | 0.16% | 1,670 | 54.86% | 3,044 |
| Tipton | 1,662 | 60.99% | 1,041 | 38.20% | 3 | 0.11% | 18 | 0.66% | 1 | 0.04% | 621 | 22.79% | 2,725 |
| Trousdale | 476 | 70.00% | 198 | 29.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 6 | 0.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 278 | 40.88% | 680 |
| Unicoi | 67 | 7.23% | 860 | 92.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -793 | -85.54% | 927 |
| Union | 496 | 22.72% | 1,684 | 77.14% | 3 | 0.14% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,188 | -54.42% | 2,183 |
| Van Buren | 329 | 64.64% | 176 | 34.58% | 4 | 0.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 153 | 30.06% | 509 |
| Warren | 1,573 | 67.51% | 729 | 31.29% | 19 | 0.82% | 2 | 0.09% | 7 | 0.30% | 844 | 36.22% | 2,330 |
| Washington | 1,574 | 41.04% | 2,254 | 58.77% | 4 | 0.10% | 1 | 0.03% | 2 | 0.05% | -680 | -17.73% | 3,835 |
| Wayne | 451 | 24.21% | 1,411 | 75.74% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.05% | -960 | -51.53% | 1,863 |
| Weakley | 2,976 | 61.42% | 1,812 | 37.40% | 17 | 0.35% | 29 | 0.60% | 11 | 0.23% | 1,164 | 24.02% | 4,845 |
| White | 1,572 | 64.88% | 835 | 34.46% | 16 | 0.66% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 737 | 30.42% | 2,423 |
| Williamson | 1,928 | 75.28% | 605 | 23.62% | 5 | 0.20% | 23 | 0.90% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,323 | 51.66% | 2,561 |
| Wilson | 2,212 | 70.99% | 902 | 28.95% | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,310 | 42.04% | 3,116 |
| Totals | 135,604 | 52.73% | 117,977 | 45.87% | 1,870 | 0.73% | 1,092 | 0.42% | 633 | 0.25% | 17,627 | 6.85% | 257,176 |