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483 members of theElectoral College 242 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 65.7%[1] 0.2pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map.Red denotes states won by Taft/Sherman,blue denotes those won by Bryan/Kern. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in theUnited States on November 3, 1908.Republican Party nomineeWilliam Howard Taft defeated threetimeDemocratic nomineeWilliam Jennings Bryan.Incumbent PresidentTheodore Roosevelt honored his promise not to seek a third term (for him, a second full term), and persuaded his close friend, Taft, to become his successor. With Roosevelt's support, Taft won the presidential nomination at the1908 Republican National Convention on the first ballot. The Democratic Party nominated Bryan, who had been defeated twice previously, in1896 and1900, by RepublicanWilliam McKinley.
Bryan, part of the more liberal or progressive wing of the Democratic Party, ran a vigorous campaign against the nation's business elite. Despite this, he suffered the worst loss of his three presidential campaigns in his percentage of both the popular vote and electoral vote. Taft won 51.6% of the popular vote and carried most states outside of theSolid South. Taft's triumph gave Republicans their fourth consecutive presidential election victory. The Republican Party lost the presidencyfour years later to the Democrats, due to a party split between Taft and Roosevelt. Twothird-party candidates,Eugene V. Debs of theSocialist Party andEugene W. Chafin of theProhibition Party, each took over 1% of the popular vote. This would also be the last election beforeArizona andNew Mexico gained statehood on January 6 and February 14, 1912.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William Howard Taft | James S. Sherman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 42nd U.S. Secretary of War (1904–1908) | U.S. Representative forNew York's 27th (1903–1909) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Candidates in this section are sorted by delegates won | |||||||
| William H. Taft | Philander C. Knox | Charles E. Hughes | Joseph G. Cannon | Charles W. Fairbanks | Robert M. La Follette | Joseph B. Foraker | Leslie M. Shaw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  | .jpg) |  |  |  |
| 42ndU.S. Secretary of War fromOhio (1904–1908) | 44thU.S. Attorney General fromPennsylvania (1901–1904) | 36thGovernor ofNew York (1907–1910) | 35thHouse Speaker fromIllinois (1903–1911) | 26thU.S. Vice President fromIndiana (1905–1909) | U.S. Senator fromWisconsin (1906–1925) | U.S. Senator fromOhio (1897–1909) | 43rdU.S. Secretary of the Treasury fromIowa (1902–1907) |
| Delegates: 549[2][3][4][5][6] | Delegates: 67[2][6] | Delegates: 54[2][6] | Delegates: 46[2][6] | Delegates: 32[2][6] | Delegates: 25[2][6] | Delegates: 5[2][7][6] | Delegates: 0[2] |
| Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | |||||
The Republican nomination contest marked the introduction of thepresidential preference primary. The idea of the primary to nominate candidates was sponsored by anti-machine politicians such asNew York GovernorCharles Evans Hughes andIowa GovernorAlbert B. Cummins. The first state to hold a presidential primary to select delegates to a national convention was Florida in1904, when Democratic Party voters held a primary among uninstructed candidates for delegate. Early in 1908, the only two Republican contenders running nationwide campaigns for the presidential nomination wereSecretary of WarWilliam Howard Taft andSenatorJoseph B. Foraker, both of Ohio. In the nomination contest, four states held primaries to select nationalconventiondelegates. In Ohio, the state Republican Party held a primary on February 11. Candidates pledged to Taft were printed on the ballot in a Taft column, and candidates pledged to Foraker were printed in a column under his name. Taft won a resounding victory in Ohio. The three states holding primaries to select delegates without the preference component were split: California chose a slate of delegates that supported Taft; Wisconsin elected a slate that supported Wisconsin SenatorRobert M. La Follette, Sr., and Pennsylvania elected a slate that supported its SenatorPhilander C. Knox.
The 1908 Republican Convention was held in Chicago between June 16 and 19.William Howard Taft was nominated with 702 votes to 68 for Knox, 67 for Hughes, 58 for Cannon, 40 for Fairbanks, 25 for La Follette, 16 for Foraker, 3 for President Roosevelt, and one abstention.[8]
| Presidential ballot | ||
| Candidate | 1st | Unanimous |
| William Howard Taft | 702 | 980 |
|---|---|---|
| Philander C. Knox | 68 | - |
| Charles Evans Hughes | 67 | - |
| Joseph Gurney Cannon | 58 | - |
| Charles W. Fairbanks | 40 | - |
| Robert M. La Follette | 25 | - |
| Joseph B. Foraker | 16 | - |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 3 | - |
| Not Voting | 1 | - |
RepresentativeJames S. Sherman from New York received the vice-presidential nomination.
| Vice-presidential ballot | ||
| Candidate | 1st | Unanimous |
| James S. Sherman | 816 | 980 |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin Murphy | 77 | - |
| Curtis Guild, Jr. | 75 | - |
| George L. Sheldon | 10 | - |
| Charles W. Fairbanks | 1 | - |
| Not Voting | 1 | - |
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| William Jennings Bryan | John W. Kern | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Representative forNebraska's 1st congressional district (1891–1895) | Indiana State Senator (1893–1897) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Campaign | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by delegates won | ||||||||
| William J. Bryan | John A. Johnson | George Gray | Jesse R. Grant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | .jpg) |  | .jpg) | |||||
| U.S. Representative forNebraska's1st district (1891–1895) | 16th Governor of Minnesota (1905–1909) | Federal Appeals Judge fromDelaware (1899–1914) | Engineer and businessman fromCalifornia | |||||
| Delegates: 549[11] | Delegates: 25[11] | Delegates: 6[11] | Delegates: 0[11] | |||||
| Campaign | ||||||||
| President | Vice President | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| √William J. Bryan | 888.5 / Unanimous | √John W. Kern | Unanimous |
| George Gray | 59.5 | ||
| John A. Johnson | 46 | ||
| Not Voting | 8 | ||
As the 1908 election approached,William Jennings Bryan was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bryan's most formidable challenger for the nomination wasMinnesota GovernorJohn Albert Johnson. Johnson'srags-to-riches story, honesty, reformist credentials, and ability to win in a heavily Republican state made him popular within the Democratic Party. In March, the Minnesota Democratic State Convention endorsed Johnson for president. By the end of June, however, Bryan had amassed more than the requisite two-thirds of the delegates needed for nomination.
The1908 Democratic National Convention was held inDenver between July 7 and 10. Johnson, aware of the fact that Bryan's nomination was a foregone conclusion, released his delegates, thereby allowing Bryan to win the nomination on the first ballot.[12]
Bryan left the choice of vice-president to the delegates.John W. Kern fromIndiana was unanimously declared the candidate for vice-president without a formal ballot after the names ofCharles A. Towne,Archibald McNeil, andClark Howell were withdrawn from consideration. Kern was a formerstate senator (1893-1897) and two-timegubernatorial candidate (1900 and1904).
In response to nomination of Bryan and Kern,The New York Times disparagingly pointed out that the Democratic national ticket was consistent because "a man twice defeated for the Presidency was at the head of it, and a man twice defeated for governor of his state was at the tail of it."[12]
| 1908 People's Party ticket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas E. Watson | Samuel Williams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Representative forGeorgia's10th district (1891–1893) | State Representative fromIndiana (1885–1887) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Campaign | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1904 the nationalPeople's Party (Populists) ticket fared fairly well. Its total was twice the party's total in the previous presidential election, and in ten states, it received over 1% of the vote. It also offered 47 candidates for the House of Representatives, though the only ones elected were cross-endorsed by one of the major parties. The party remained in fusion with either the Democrats or the Republicans in many states.
The following three years were a trying time for the party. When Democrats began to call for the nomination of Bryan in 1908, western Populist leaderThomas Tibbles announced that the People's Party would probably not support him since he had gone into the hands of the Eastern business interests.[13] Two months later, Nebraska Democrats decided in their state convention to end fusion with the Populists, but they changed their mind after an all-night conference.[14] In the midterm elections the party only offered 10 candidates for House, and the Kansas People's Party officially disbanded in December when that state party's leader announced that he was joining the Republicans.[15]
By late 1907, many Populists were hoping that Thomas Watson would agree to run for president again. The previous three years had been unusual for Watson. He gave a speech to a gathering of farmers in Greensborough, Georgia and while preparing for supper, the house where he was staying was burned.[16] In mid-1906, Watson called on Georgia Populists to vote forHoke Smith for governor in the Democratic primary, which fueled speculation that Watson was thinking of returning to the Democrats.[17] In early 1907, Watson started a network of Populist-leaning publications to keep the party's principles alive; Tibbles was chosen to serve as the chief editor.[18] One month later, someone fired shots into the Watsons' house in Augusta.[19] He had an altercation with an African-American porter on a train; when the porter said that he was unable to increase the train's speed, Watson hit the man in the face with the cap of his cane.[20]
The People's Party National Committee met on November 26, 1907, to make preparations for the 1908 national convention. National chairmanJames Ferriss indicated that Thomas Watson was the front runner for the nomination, saying that the party hoped to forge an alliance with one or more of the other minor parties, including possibly the Independence League or the Prohibitionists.[21] In early 1908, however, at least one member of the national committee believed that SenatorRobert La Follette of Wisconsin would win the Populist nomination.[22]
On the first day of the convention, the delegation from Nebraska worked to adjourn the convention; they had already decided to support Bryan if he became the Democratic nominee. They managed to delay the official organization of the convention all day. One of their delegates, A.M. Walling of Nebraska, told the New York Times "we shall bolt if the convention attempts to nominate Thomas E. Watson, or any one else. We are not alone, for we have assurances that Minnesota, Georgia, and possibly Michigan and Kansas will walk out when we do".[23]
The convention was organized on the second day and completed all its relevant business. Watson supporters chose George A. Honnecker of New Jersey to serve as the permanent chairman, defeating the Bryan supporters' choice,Jacob Coxey. The platform called for inflation of the currency, public ownership of railroads, telephones, and telegraphs, labor legislation, and a ban on futures gambling. When the time for nominations began, a schism took place; Watson's name was placed in nomination, and the Nebraska delegation bolted. They were followed by T.J. Weighan, the sole delegate from Minnesota. Watson was then nominated for president; his running mate was Samuel Williams of Indiana.[24]
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| Eugene V. Debs | Benjamin Hanford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Representative fromIndiana (1885–1887) | Printer and Labor Organizer fromNew York | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Campaign | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by convention vote | ||||
| Eugene V. Debs | James F. Carey | Carl D. Thompson | Algie M. Simons | Max S. Hayes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |
| FormerState Senator fromIndiana (1885–1889) | FormerState Representative fromMassachusetts (1899–1903) | State Representative fromWisconsin (1906–1908) | Former Editor of the International Socialist Review fromIllinois (1900–1908) | Editor of the Cleveland Citizen fromOhio (1891–1940) |
| Delegates: 159 | Delegates: 16 DTBN | Delegates: 14 | Delegates: 9 | Delegates: 0 DTBN |
| [25] | [25] | [25] | [25] | [25] |
The radical members of the party supported giving the nomination toBill Haywood. Debs' health was in question untilBen Hanford, a member of the New York delegation, read a letter from Debs stating that he was in good health and would give his support to whoever won the nomination.Seymour Stedman, an opponent of Debs, proposedAlgie Martin Simons, who had the support of the right wing in the party, for the nomination.Victor L. Berger proposedCarl D. Thompson for the nomination and it was seconded byWinfield R. Gaylord andCarolyn Lloyd Strobell.James F. Carey was nominated byIda Crouch-Hazlett.Max S. Hayes nomination was seconded byAlfred Wagenknecht. Phillip H. Callery nominated Debs on May 14, 1908, and it was seconded byJohn Spargo and he won the nomination on the first ballot with 159 votes out of the 198 cast. A motion by Berger and Stedman to make the selection unanimous was approved. Carey's name was put up for the vice-presidential nomination by the Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Montana delegations, but he declined to run, and Caleb Lipscomb too declined. Hanford won the vice-presidential selection with 106 votes on the first ballot, which was later made unanimous. Debs' campaign was managed byJ. Mahlon Barnes.[26][27][28][29][30] This was the first time that a candidate besides Debs had been nominated for the Socialist presidential nomination.[31]
Lincoln Steffens initially believed that Debs was not suitable for the presidency, but later toldBrand Whitlock, themayor ofToledo, Ohio, to vote for Debs after Steffens interviewed Debs and Berger. Haywood fundraised for the purchase of a train, which had over 200,000 contributors, that was later named theRed Special. Debs' train left on August 30, 1908, and traveled over 9,000 miles and gave 187 speeches over twenty-five days. Twenty-two million copies ofAppeal to Reason were distributed during the campaign and the newspaper gained 50,000 subscribers.[26]
Theodore Roosevelt believed that the Socialists would take progressive votes away from Taft and stated that Debs' speeches were "mere pieces of the literature of criminal violence".Samuel Gompers, the president of theAmerican Federation of Labor and who had endorsed Bryan, criticized Debs, accusing him of receiving secret funding for his train from the Republicans. The Socialists published the names of every contributor to the train fund and the amount they donated, and also challenged Gompers to a debate, but he refused. Former PresidentGrover Cleveland, and theChicago Tribune, predicted that the Socialists would receive over one million votes.[26]
Debs hoped to receive over a million votes, but only received 420,852 votes which was a 20,000 vote increase from the 1904 election. Debs stated that the reason for the small increase was due to Democrats who had supported him in 1904 over Parker had voted for Bryan and that those who remained were pure socialist votes.[26]
| Presidential ballot | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | Vice-presidential ballot | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene V. Debs | 159 | Unanimous | Ben Hanford | 106 | Unanimous |
| James F. Carey | 16 | Seymour Stedman | 42 | ||
| Carl D. Thompson | 14 | May Wood Simons | 20 | ||
| Algie Martin Simons | 9 | John W. Slayton | 15 | ||
| Caleb Lipscomb | 1 | ||||
| George W. Woodbey | 1 | ||||
| Reference | [28] | [28] | [28] | [28] | [28] |
| 1908 Socialist Labor Party Ticket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August Gillhaus | Donald L. Munro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engineer fromNew York | Machinist fromVirginia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheSocialist Labor Party met in New York City from July 2 to July 5 in Arlington Hall, St. Mark's Place. While increasingly dwarfed by the growing membership of theSocialist Party led byEugene Debs andBill Haywood,Daniel De Leon and his compatriots remained committed to maintaining their separate course, considering Debs and his platform to be "reactionary".[32] An attempt was made to depose Leon from his position of editor of the Party's papers in favor of a more moderate candidate, for fear that Leon's writings were alienating voters who might otherwise be sympathetic to their cause. The report was overwhelmingly voted down after Leon spoke in defense of his conduct as the Party's editor, with a rival report being adopted praising his leadership.[33] When it came time for the nominations, Leon personally nominated Martin Preston of Nevada, who was currently serving atwenty-five-year sentence for the murder of Anton Silva. While noting that Preston was only 32 at the time, Leon remarked that "it was for the working people to elect Preston, and if he was elected he would be seated". Preston's nomination was ratified unanimously, withDonald Munro of Virginia winning in a contest against Arthur S. Dower of Texas for the vice presidential nomination. The nominations were later formalized atCooper Union following the close of the convention.[34]
Only days later, however, Martin Preston replied in a telegram that he could not accept the Presidential nomination, a declination that had not been expected nor prepared for.[35]August Gillhaus of New York was later nominated in Preston's stead.
| 1908 Prohibition Party ticket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eugene W. Chafin | Aaron S. Watkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | .jpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorney at Law fromIllinois | Professor andMethodist Minister fromOhio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Campaign | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Prohibition Party met in Columbus, Ohio, on July 14 and 15 to nominate its presidential ticket.Eugene Chafin was nominated on the third ballot in an open contest. When the runner-up for the Presidential nomination William Palmore, a Methodist Minister from Missouri and Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, declined his nomination for the Vice Presidency, the convention hurriedly allowed for a new set of nominations and another ballot.Aaron Watkins of Ohio would win a majority on the first ballot.
| President(Note) | Vice President[36] | |||||||
| Candidate | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Unanimous | Candidate | Unanimous | 1st | Unanimous |
| √Eugene W. Chafin | 195 | 376 | 636 | 1,087 | √Aaron S. Watkins | - | ? | 1,087 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William A. Palmore | 273 | 418 | 415 | - | William A. Palmore | 1,087 | - | - |
| Alfred L. Manierre | 159 | 121 | 4 | - | T. B. Demaree | - | ? | - |
| Daniel R. Sheen | 124 | 157 | 12 | - | Charles S. Holler | - | ? | - |
| Joseph P. Tracy | 105 | 81 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Frederick F. Wheeler | 72 | 73 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Oliver W. Stewart | 61 | 47 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| James B. Cranfill | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| George R. Stewart | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Charles Scanlon | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1908 Independence Party ticket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas L. Hisgen | John T. Graves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CEO of Hisgen Brothers fromMassachusetts (1888–1927) | Newspaper Editor fromGeorgia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by highest convention vote | |||||
| Thomas L. Hisgen | John Temple Graves | Milford W. Howard | Reuben R. Lyon | William R. Hearst | William J. Bryan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |  |  | | |
| CEO of Hisgen Brothers fromMassachusetts (1888–1927) | Newspaper editor fromGeorgia | FormerU.S. Representative forAlabama's7th district (1895–1899) | Attorney at Law fromNew York | FormerU.S. Representative forNew York's11th district (1903–1907) | FormerU.S. Representative forNebraska's1st district (1891–1895) |
| Delegates: 831 | Delegates: 213 | Delegates: 200 | Delegates: 71 NW:Before 2nd ballot | Delegates: 49 DTBN | Delegates: 0 NR |
| [37] | [37] | [37] | [37] | [37] | [37] |
Disappointed with his performance in the 1904 Democratic presidential nomination campaign, and disillusioned as to his chances of successfully attaining it in 1908, William Randolph Hearst decided to run instead on the ticket of a third party of his own making. Originally borne from theMunicipal Ownership League, a vehicle for Hearst's ultimately unsuccessful bid for the mayoralty of New York in 1905, it was Hearst's intention to fuse it with the remnants of the Populist Party led byThomas Watson, a former Representative from Georgia who had been its presidential nominee in 1904. However, these intentions were dashed when every candidate that theIndependence Party put forth in elections held in New York was elected except Hearst himself, despite an endorsement by the Democratic Party. Devastated, Hearst declared his intention never again to be a candidate.
While Hearst would no longer be the nominee, he fully intended to exercise influence at the Independence Party's convention; the platform itself was in large part a statement of his own views. With its candidates nominated, the party's purpose was changed from being a path for Hearst's presidential ambitions to being an instrument of his wrath. Through the influence of his papers and generous financial donations, Hearst hoped that the Independence ticket would draw away votes from William Jennings Bryan and lead to his defeat by Taft; this personal vendetta stemmed from Bryan failing to support Hearst's own bid for the Presidency in 1904.
| Presidential ballot | |||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas L. Hisgen | 396 | 590 | 831 |
| John T. Graves | 213 | 189 | 7 |
| Milford W. Howard | 200 | 109 | 38 |
| Reuben R. Lyon | 71 | 0 | 0 |
| William R. Hearst | 49 | 49 | 2 |
With theFree Silver issue no longer dominant, Bryan campaigned on a progressive platform attacking "government by privilege." His campaign slogan, "Shall the People Rule?", was featured on numerous posters and campaign memorabilia. However, Taft undercut Bryan's liberal support by accepting some of his reformist ideas, and Roosevelt's progressive policies blurred the distinctions between the parties. Republicans also used the slogan "Vote for Taft now, you can vote for Bryan anytime", a sarcastic reference to Bryan's two failed previous presidential campaigns.
The Socialist candidate, Eugene Debs, embarked on an ambitiouswhistle-stop tour aboard a train nicknamed theRed Special, giving speeches regarding the Socialist cause across the country. The exertion of the tour exhausted Debs, and at certain points his brother Theodore - who bore a great resemblance to Eugene - substituted for him to allow the candidate to rest.[39]
Businessmen continued to support the Republican Party, and Bryan failed to secure the support of labor. As a result, Bryan ended up with the worst of his three defeats in the national popular vote. He lost almost all the northern states to Taft and the popular vote by 8 percentage points.
This would be Bryan's last campaign for the presidency, although he would remain a popular figure within the Democratic Party and in 1912 would play a key role in securing the presidential nomination forWoodrow Wilson.Charles W. Bryan, William's brother, would become the (losing) Democratic nominee for Vice Presidentin 1924. Bryan's 162 electoral votes from this election, combined with his 155 and 176 electoral votes from 1900 and 1896 respectively, make him the person with the most electoral votes never to be president.
Turnout in the election was 65.7%, with 29.8% of the voting age population participating in the election.[41] Forty-six states participated, asOklahoma had joined the Union less than a year prior to the ballot. Bryan won forty-eight counties in the new state of Oklahoma. The most important increase in the number of counties carried by Bryan was in theWest South Central section, in part due to the vote of newly admitted Oklahoma.[42]
Of the 2,858 counties making returns, Taft won in 1,494 (52.27%) while Bryan carried 1,355 (47.41%). Nine (0.31%) counties recorded more votes cast for "Other(s)" than either of the two main party candidates, whilst twenty-eight counties (0.97%) recorded zero votes due to being inhabited either by Native Americans who would notgain full citizenship for sixteen years, or bydisenfranchised southern African-Americans. Taft had a majority in 1,325 counties, while Bryan had a majority in 1,204 counties.
By carrying 1,355 counties, Bryan won more counties than he had in1900 (1,340), but he did not reach or surpass the number of counties he had won in1896 (1,559). Bryan won more counties than McKinley in 1896, but failed to carry more counties than the Republican candidate in 1900 or 1904. Compared with his strength in previous elections, however, Bryan carried 69 counties in 1908 which had not been Democratic in either 1896 or 1900.[43]
Bryan increased the area carried by Democrats in every part of the country exceptNew England and theSouth. He doubled the number of Democratic counties in Wisconsin and won more counties in Indiana than were carried by plurality vote by the Democrats in any election in theFourth Party System except1912. He made decided gains in Missouri and in his home state of Nebraska,[42] besides achieving notable victories in Colorado and Nevada. However, in four Western states (Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, and North Dakota), there was not one Democratic county. This was true likewise of Michigan, Delaware, and each of the New England states.
The total vote increased greatly, by more than a million vis-à-vis 1904. The major parties shared very unequally in the increase: whereas Taft had nearly 50,000 more than Theodore Roosevelt, Bryan had nearly 1,500,000 more votes thanAlton Parker had garnered, and more than in either of his previous campaigns.
The eleven states of the former Confederacy provided 6.55% of Taft's votes, with him taking 31.71% of the vote in that region.[44] It was noticeable that the "other" vote was only about seven thousand less than four years earlier. The "other" vote was a plurality in nine counties in the states of Georgia and Texas.
The size of the vote cast for the defeated Bryan in 1908 is clear evidence of perhaps the most striking feature of the American presidential vote. In this third attempt at the presidency, and in an election following one in which the nominee of his party polled only five million votes, Bryan had heavy support in every section of the country, and in every state. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of the vote cast for Bryan was from the fifteen states of the(Northeastern)Mid-Atlantic,East North Central, andWest North Central sections, in which the Democratic candidate carried only one state (Nebraska).
Despite all conclusions as to predominant sentiment in the different sections and its economic, social, and political causes, there was a national vote cast for Bryan, and it was urban as well as rural; it was eastern, western, southern, and northern. Everywhere the Democratic Party wasthe minority party, and it was not hopeless, nor was it helpless. It was the agency for the expression of the opposition of almost six and a half million voters.[43]According to HistorianGeorge E. Mowry:
As of 2024, this is the most recent of only two elections in which Kansas and Nebraska did not vote for the same candidate,[a] the most recent in which Nebraska voted differently from both Kansas and North Dakota, and the most recent in which a Republican won the presidency without winning Nebraska. Bryan was the fifth of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others beingThomas Jefferson,Henry Clay,Andrew Jackson,Grover Cleveland,Franklin D. Roosevelt,Richard Nixon, andDonald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Clay and Bryan are the only two candidates to have lost three presidential elections.
The 162 electoral votes received by Bryan, added to the 155 electoral votes he received in1900, and the 176 electoral votes he received in1896, gave him the most total electoral votes received by any candidate who was never elected to the office of president (493), and the sixth largest number of electoral votes received by any candidate behindAndrew Jackson's 496,Ulysses S. Grant's 500,Herbert Hoover's 503,George W. Bush's 557,William McKinley's 563,George H. W. Bush's 594,Grover Cleveland's 664,Barack Obama's 697,Woodrow Wilson's 712,Bill Clinton's 749,Donald Trump's 848,Dwight Eisenhower's 899,Ronald Reagan's 1,015,Richard Nixon's 1,040 andFranklin D. Roosevelt's 1,876 total electoral votes.[citation needed]
 | This articlemay beconfusing or unclear to readers. In particular, there are far more than 6 presidents listed here who received more electoral votes than Bryan. Please helpclarify the article. There might be a discussion about this onthe talk page.(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| William Howard Taft | Republican | Ohio | 7,678,335 | 51.57% | 321 | James S. Sherman | New York | 321 |
| William Jennings Bryan | Democratic | Nebraska | 6,408,979 | 43.04% | 162 | John W. Kern | Indiana | 162 |
| Eugene V. Debs | Socialist | Indiana | 420,852 | 2.83% | 0 | Benjamin Hanford | New York | 0 |
| Eugene W. Chafin | Prohibition | Illinois | 254,087 | 1.71% | 0 | Aaron S. Watkins | Ohio | 0 |
| Thomas L. Hisgen | Independence | Massachusetts | 82,574 | 0.55% | 0 | John Temple Graves | Georgia | 0 |
| Thomas E. Watson | Populist | Georgia | 28,862 | 0.19% | 0 | Samuel Williams | Indiana | 0 |
| August Gillhaus | Socialist Labor | New York | 14,031 | 0.09% | 0 | Donald L. Munro | Virginia | 0 |
| Other | 1,519 | 0.01% | — | Other | — | |||
| Total | 14,889,239 | 100% | 483 | 483 | ||||
| Needed to win | 242 | 242 | ||||||
Source (Popular Vote):Leip, David."1908 Presidential Election Results".Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2012.
Source (Electoral Vote):"Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996".National Archives and Records Administration. RetrievedJuly 31, 2005.
| Taft | 51.57% | |||
| Bryan | 43.04% | |||
| Debs | 2.83% | |||
| Chafin | 1.71% | |||
| Others | 0.85% | |||
| Taft | 66.46% | |||
| Bryan | 33.54% | |||
Source:[46]
| States/districts won byBryan/Kern |
| States/districts won byTaft/Sherman |
| William Howard Taft Republican | William Jennings Bryan Democratic | Eugene V. Debs Socialist | Eugene Chafin Prohibition | Thomas Hisgen Independence | Thomas Watson People's | August Gillhaus Socialist Labor | Margin | State Total | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | # | |
| Alabama | 11 | 25,561 | 24.31 | - | 74,391 | 70.75 | 11 | 1,450 | 1.38 | - | 690 | 0.66 | - | 497 | 0.47 | - | 1,576 | 1.50 | - | - | - | - | -48,830 | -46.44 | 105,152 | AL |
| Arkansas | 9 | 56,624 | 37.30 | - | 87,015 | 57.31 | 9 | 5,842 | 3.85 | - | 1,026 | 0.68 | - | 289 | 0.19 | - | 1,026 | 0.68 | - | - | - | - | -30,391 | -20.02 | 151,822 | AR |
| California | 10 | 214,398 | 55.46 | 10 | 127,492 | 32.98 | - | 28,659 | 7.41 | - | 11,770 | 3.04 | - | 4,278 | 1.11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 86,906 | 22.48 | 386,597 | CA |
| Colorado | 5 | 123,693 | 46.88 | - | 126,644 | 48.00 | 5 | 7,960 | 3.02 | - | 5,559 | 2.11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -2,951 | -1.12 | 263,858 | CO |
| Connecticut | 7 | 112,915 | 59.43 | 7 | 68,255 | 35.92 | - | 5,113 | 2.69 | - | 2,380 | 1.25 | - | 728 | 0.38 | - | - | - | - | 608 | 0.32 | - | 44,660 | 23.50 | 190,003 | CT |
| Delaware | 3 | 25,014 | 52.10 | 3 | 22,055 | 45.94 | - | 239 | 0.50 | - | 670 | 1.40 | - | 29 | 0.06 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2,959 | 6.16 | 48,007 | DE |
| Florida | 5 | 10,654 | 21.58 | - | 31,104 | 63.01 | 5 | 3,747 | 7.59 | - | 1,356 | 2.75 | - | 553 | 1.12 | - | 1,946 | 3.94 | - | - | - | - | -20,450 | -41.43 | 49,360 | FL |
| Georgia | 13 | 41,355 | 31.21 | - | 72,350 | 54.60 | 13 | 584 | 0.44 | - | 1,452 | 1.10 | - | 76 | 0.06 | - | 16,687 | 12.59 | - | - | - | - | -30,995 | -23.39 | 132,504 | GA |
| Idaho | 3 | 52,621 | 54.09 | 3 | 36,162 | 37.17 | - | 6,400 | 6.58 | - | 1,986 | 2.04 | - | 124 | 0.13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16,459 | 16.92 | 97,293 | ID |
| Illinois | 27 | 629,932 | 54.53 | 27 | 450,810 | 39.02 | - | 34,711 | 3.00 | - | 29,364 | 2.54 | - | 7,724 | 0.67 | - | 633 | 0.05 | - | 1,680 | 0.15 | - | 179,122 | 15.50 | 1,155,254 | IL |
| Indiana | 15 | 348,993 | 48.40 | 15 | 338,262 | 46.91 | - | 13,476 | 1.87 | - | 18,045 | 2.50 | - | 514 | 0.07 | - | 1,193 | 0.17 | - | 643 | 0.09 | - | 10,731 | 1.49 | 721,126 | IN |
| Iowa | 13 | 275,209 | 55.62 | 13 | 200,771 | 40.58 | - | 8,287 | 1.67 | - | 9,837 | 1.99 | - | 404 | 0.08 | - | 261 | 0.05 | - | - | - | - | 74,438 | 15.05 | 494,769 | IA |
| Kansas | 10 | 197,216 | 52.46 | 10 | 161,209 | 42.88 | - | 12,420 | 3.30 | - | 5,033 | 1.34 | - | 68 | 0.02 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 36,007 | 9.58 | 375,946 | KS |
| Kentucky | 13 | 235,711 | 48.03 | - | 244,092 | 49.74 | 13 | 4,093 | 0.83 | - | 5,885 | 1.20 | - | 200 | 0.04 | - | 333 | 0.07 | - | 405 | 0.08 | - | -8,381 | -1.71 | 490,719 | KY |
| Louisiana | 9 | 8,958 | 11.93 | - | 63,568 | 84.63 | 9 | 2,514 | 3.35 | - | - | - | - | 77 | 0.10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -54,610 | -72.70 | 75,117 | LA |
| Maine | 6 | 66,987 | 63.00 | 6 | 35,403 | 33.29 | - | 1,758 | 1.65 | - | 1,487 | 1.40 | - | 700 | 0.66 | - | 1 | 0.00 | - | - | - | - | 31,584 | 29.70 | 106,336 | ME |
| Maryland | 8 | 116,513 | 48.85 | 2 | 115,908 | 48.59 | 6 | 2,323 | 0.97 | - | 3,302 | 1.38 | - | 485 | 0.20 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 605 | 0.25 | 238,531 | MD |
| Massachusetts | 16 | 265,966 | 58.21 | 16 | 155,543 | 34.04 | - | 10,779 | 2.36 | - | 4,374 | 0.96 | - | 19,237 | 4.21 | - | - | - | - | 1,011 | 0.22 | - | 110,423 | 24.17 | 456,919 | MA |
| Michigan | 14 | 335,580 | 61.93 | 14 | 175,771 | 32.44 | - | 11,586 | 2.14 | - | 16,974 | 3.13 | - | 760 | 0.14 | - | - | - | - | 1,096 | 0.20 | - | 159,809 | 29.49 | 541,830 | MI |
| Minnesota | 11 | 195,843 | 59.11 | 11 | 109,401 | 33.02 | - | 14,527 | 4.38 | - | 11,107 | 3.35 | - | 426 | 0.13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 86,442 | 26.09 | 331,304 | MN |
| Mississippi | 10 | 4,363 | 6.52 | - | 60,287 | 90.11 | 10 | 978 | 1.46 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1,276 | 1.91 | - | - | - | - | -55,924 | -83.59 | 66,904 | MS |
| Missouri | 18 | 347,203 | 48.50 | 18 | 346,574 | 48.41 | - | 15,431 | 2.16 | - | 4,284 | 0.60 | - | 402 | 0.06 | - | 1,165 | 0.16 | - | 868 | 0.12 | - | 629 | 0.09 | 715,927 | MO |
| Montana | 3 | 32,333 | 46.98 | 3 | 29,326 | 42.61 | - | 5,855 | 8.51 | - | 827 | 1.20 | - | 481 | 0.70 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3,007 | 4.37 | 68,822 | MT |
| Nebraska | 8 | 126,997 | 47.60 | - | 131,099 | 49.14 | 8 | 3,524 | 1.32 | - | 5,179 | 1.94 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -4,102 | -1.54 | 266,799 | NE |
| Nevada | 3 | 10,775 | 43.93 | - | 11,212 | 45.71 | 3 | 2,103 | 8.57 | - | - | - | - | 436 | 1.78 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -437 | -1.78 | 24,526 | NV |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 53,149 | 59.32 | 4 | 33,655 | 37.56 | - | 1,299 | 1.45 | - | 905 | 1.01 | - | 584 | 0.65 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19,494 | 21.76 | 89,600 | NH |
| New Jersey | 12 | 265,298 | 56.80 | 12 | 182,522 | 39.07 | - | 10,249 | 2.19 | - | 4,930 | 1.06 | - | 2,916 | 0.62 | - | - | - | - | 1,196 | 0.26 | - | 82,776 | 17.72 | 467,111 | NJ |
| New York | 39 | 870,070 | 53.11 | 39 | 667,468 | 40.74 | - | 38,451 | 2.35 | - | 22,667 | 1.38 | - | 35,817 | 2.19 | - | - | - | - | 3,877 | 0.24 | - | 202,602 | 12.37 | 1,638,350 | NY |
| North Carolina | 12 | 114,887 | 45.49 | - | 136,928 | 54.22 | 12 | 372 | 0.15 | - | 354 | 0.14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -22,041 | -8.73 | 252,554 | NC |
| North Dakota | 4 | 57,680 | 61.02 | 4 | 32,885 | 34.79 | - | 2,421 | 2.56 | - | 1,496 | 1.58 | - | 43 | 0.05 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 24,795 | 26.23 | 94,525 | ND |
| Ohio | 23 | 572,312 | 51.03 | 23 | 502,721 | 44.82 | - | 33,795 | 3.01 | - | 11,402 | 1.02 | - | 439 | 0.04 | - | 162 | 0.01 | - | 721 | 0.06 | - | 69,591 | 6.20 | 1,121,552 | OH |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 110,550 | 43.03 | - | 123,907 | 48.22 | 7 | 21,752 | 8.47 | - | - | - | - | 274 | 0.11 | - | 412 | 0.17 | - | - | - | - | -11,889 | -4.66 | 256,917 | OK |
| Oregon | 4 | 62,530 | 56.39 | 4 | 38,049 | 34.31 | - | 7,339 | 6.62 | - | 2,682 | 2.42 | - | 289 | 0.26 | - | - | - | - | 274 | 0.11 | - | 24,481 | 22.08 | 110,889 | OR |
| Pennsylvania | 34 | 745,779 | 58.84 | 34 | 448,782 | 35.41 | - | 33,914 | 2.68 | - | 36,694 | 2.90 | - | 1,057 | 0.08 | - | - | - | - | 1,224 | 0.10 | - | 296,997 | 23.43 | 1,267,450 | PA |
| Rhode Island | 4 | 43,942 | 60.76 | 4 | 24,706 | 34.16 | - | 1,365 | 1.89 | - | 1,016 | 1.40 | - | 1,105 | 1.53 | - | - | - | - | 183 | 0.25 | - | 19,236 | 26.60 | 72,317 | RI |
| South Carolina | 9 | 3,945 | 5.94 | - | 62,288 | 93.84 | 9 | 100 | 0.15 | - | - | - | - | 46 | 0.07 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -58,343 | -87.89 | 66,379 | SC |
| South Dakota | 4 | 67,536 | 58.84 | 4 | 40,266 | 35.08 | - | 2,846 | 2.48 | - | 4,039 | 3.52 | - | 88 | 0.08 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 27,270 | 23.76 | 114,775 | SD |
| Tennessee | 12 | 117,977 | 45.87 | - | 135,608 | 52.73 | 12 | 1,870 | 0.73 | - | 301 | 0.12 | - | 332 | 0.13 | - | 1,092 | 0.42 | - | - | - | - | -17,631 | -6.86 | 257,180 | TN |
| Texas | 18 | 65,666 | 22.35 | - | 217,302 | 73.97 | 18 | 7,870 | 2.68 | - | 1,634 | 0.56 | - | 115 | 0.04 | - | 994 | 0.34 | - | 176 | 0.06 | - | -151,636 | -51.62 | 293,757 | TX |
| Utah | 3 | 61,028 | 56.19 | 3 | 42,601 | 39.22 | - | 4,895 | 4.51 | - | - | - | - | 87 | 0.08 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18,427 | 16.97 | 108,613 | UT |
| Vermont | 4 | 39,552 | 75.08 | 4 | 11,496 | 21.82 | - | - | - | - | 799 | 1.52 | - | 804 | 1.53 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 28,056 | 53.26 | 52,680 | VT |
| Virginia | 12 | 52,572 | 38.36 | - | 82,946 | 60.52 | 12 | 255 | 0.19 | - | 1,111 | 0.81 | - | 51 | 0.04 | - | 105 | 0.08 | - | 25 | 0.02 | - | -30,374 | -22.16 | 137,065 | VA |
| Washington | 5 | 106,062 | 57.68 | 5 | 58,691 | 31.92 | - | 14,177 | 7.71 | - | 4,700 | 2.56 | - | 249 | 0.14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 47,371 | 25.76 | 183,879 | WA |
| West Virginia | 7 | 137,869 | 53.42 | 7 | 111,418 | 43.17 | - | 3,679 | 1.43 | - | 5,139 | 1.99 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 26,451 | 10.25 | 258,105 | WV |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 247,747 | 54.52 | 13 | 166,662 | 36.67 | - | 28,147 | 6.19 | - | 11,565 | 2.54 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 318 | 0.07 | - | 81,085 | 17.84 | 454,441 | WI |
| Wyoming | 3 | 20,846 | 55.43 | 3 | 14,918 | 39.67 | - | 1,715 | 4.56 | - | 66 | 0.18 | - | 64 | 0.17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5,928 | 15.76 | 37,609 | WY |
| TOTALS: | 483 | 7,678,335 | 51.57 | 321 | 6,408,979 | 43.04 | 162 | 420,852 | 2.83 | - | 254,087 | 1.71 | - | 82,574 | 0.55 | - | 28,862 | 0.19 | - | 14,031 | 0.09 | - | 1,269,356 | 8.53 | 14,889,239 | US |
Margin of victory less than 1% (34 electoral votes):
Margin of victory less than 5% (46 electoral votes):
Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (60 electoral votes):
Tipping point state:
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)
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