United States presidential election, 1924
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The U.S. presidential election of 1924 was won by incumbent President Calvin Coolidge in a landslide as he presided over a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad.
Contents |
[edit] Nominations
[edit] Republican Party nomination
The Republican Convention was held in Cleveland from 10 June to 12 June, with the easy choice of nominating sitting President Coolidge for a full term of his own.
| ballot; | 1 |
|---|---|
| President Coolidge | 1065 |
| Robert LaFollette | 34 |
| Hiram Johnson | 10 |
Coolidge's prospective running mate Governor Frank O. Lowden became the only nominee to actually refuse to accept a major party nomination during the 20th century. He was replaced by Charles Dawes.
[edit] Democratic Party nomination
The 1924 Democratic National Convention was held in New York from 24 June to 9 July. The Convention was split over more than a hundred ballots between William G. McAdoo of California, former Secretary of the Treasury and son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson, supported by the "Drys" (pro-Prohibitionists), and Governor Al Smith of New York, supported by the "Wets," as well as over a proposed platform plank denouncing the Ku Klux Klan (which was opposed by William Jennings Bryan). Senator Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama, the Democratic leader in the Senate, also had some support. Ultimately, the convention decided on John W. Davis, a former Congressman from West Virginia and Ambassador to the United Kingdom, as a compromise candidate. The disarray prompted Will Rogers's famous quip: "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
Charles W. Bryan, William Jennings Bryan's baby brother and business manager was nominated for Vice President, thus making them the only siblings to be nominated by a major party for national office.
[edit] Other nominations
United States Progressive Party candidate Robert M. La Follette, Sr. received 4,822,856 popular votes for President (16.5 percent) and 13 electoral votes. Long a champion of farmers and industrial workers, and an ardent foe of big business, LaFollette was a prime mover in the recreation of the Progressive movement following World War I. Backed by the farm and labor vote, as well as by Socialists and remnants of Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party, LaFollette ran on a platform of nationalizing railroads and the country's natural resources. He also strongly supported increased taxation on the wealthy and the right of collective bargaining. Despite a strong showing in certain regions, he carried only his home state of Wisconsin.
[edit] General election
[edit] Campaign
Ultimately, Coolidge won the election in a landslide, with Davis only winning the 11 former Confederate states and Oklahoma, and losing the popular vote by 25 percentage points. The Republicans did so well that they won in New York City, a feat that has not been repeated since.
[edit] Results
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Running Mate | Running Mate's Home State |
Running Mate's Electoral Vote |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | |||||||
| (John) Calvin Coolidge, Jr. | Republican | Massachusetts | 15,723,789 | 54.0% | 382 | Charles Gates Dawes | Illinois | 382 |
| John William Davis | Democratic | West Virginia | 8,386,242 | 28.8% | 136 | Charles Wayland Bryan | Nebraska | 136 |
| Robert Marion LaFollette | Progressive | Wisconsin | 4,831,706 | 16.6% | 13 | Burton Kendall Wheeler | Montana | 13 |
| Herman P. Faris | Prohibition | Missouri | 55,951 | 0.2% | 0 | Marie Brehm | 0 | |
| William Z. Foster | Communist | 38,669 | 0.1% | 0 | Benjamin Gitlow | New York | 0 | |
| Other | 60,750 | 0.2% | 0 | Other | 0 | |||
| Total | 29,097,107 | 100.0% | 531 | Total | 531 | |||
| Needed to win | 266 | Needed to win | 266 | |||||
Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1924 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (July 28, 2005).
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 31, 2005).
[edit] See also
- President of the United States
- U.S. Senate election, 1924
- History of the United States (1918-1945)
- Fourth Party System
[edit] References
- Hicks, John Donald. Republican Ascendancy 1921-1933 (1955)
- K. C. MacKay, The Progressive Movement of 1924 (1947)
- Donald R. McCoy, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967)
- Murray, Robert K. The 103rd Ballot: Democrats and Disaster in Madison Square Garden (1976),
- Nancy C. Unger. Fighting Bob LaFollette: The Righteous Reformer (2000)
- An Outline of American History: Chapter 13: Toward the 21st Century. Official web site of the U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on September 17, 2005.
[edit] External links
[edit] Navigation
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