By mid-August 1948, the Dixiecrats were making a big push for the 23 Electoral Votes in Texas. They held a rally in Houston, where nearly 9,000 people attended to support the Thurmond/Wright ticket[1]. Houston oilman and multi-millionaire H. R. Cullen gave a reception for the Dixiecrats after the rally[2]. The Dixiecrat campaign split the Democrats in Texas and led to infighting within the Texas Democratic Party[3]. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Robert Calvert certified Truman as the nominee for president[4].
In September, Strom Thurmond put out several statements denouncing the label of “Dixiecrats.” He told the press that he didn’t like it and insisted on being called the “States’ Rights” party[5].
The Democrats and Dixiecrats were battling over state ballots, each working behind the scenes to keep the other’s name off the polls in the South. In Louisiana, the Dixiecrats planned on keeping Truman off altogether. This led to lawsuits and infighting within the Louisiana State Legislature[6]. However, by October, both Truman and Thurmond were placed on the November ballots[7].
In the end, Alabama was the only state that successfully kept Truman off the November ballot[8].
Even though the Dixiecrats chose Governor Thurmond to lead their ticket, they viewed him as a Liberal. Thurmond shunned alcohol, tobacco, and even coffee. Despite his abstinence from alcohol, as Governor of South Carolina, he promised to sign any liquor law that came across his desk, saying, “I’m not a prude, and certainly, I don’t have a holier than though attitude.” While he was the selected presidential ticket of the Dixiecrat ticket, he had spent his prior years as Governor advocating for the repeal of South Carolina’s poll tax. He always said gradualism was how to handle the Black issue[9].
In Virginia, a very public rift happened with the Young Democratic Clubs over which party they would ultimately support. Some of the clubs wanted to keep the Democrats, while others wanted to help the States’ Rights Democrats. The Young Democrats of Virginia tossed around the idea of a split, as the Democrats and Dixiecrats did on the national level. There was even a discussion of two separate conventions[10].
In Montgomery County, Georgia, Isaiah Nixon, a Black father of six children, was killed when he attempted to vote in the Democratic Primary[11]. In 1948, 5,000 Black people lived in Montgomery County, and Isaiah Nixon was the only Black person who voted[12]. Later, an all-white jury acquitted the two white men who murdered Nixon[13].
The ‘Three Governors Controversy’ led to the heightening of white supremacy activity in Georgia. The Ku Klux Klan endorsed Herman Talmadge for Governor[14], and in support of him, they burned dozens of crosses in all areas of Georgia leading up to the election[15].
By late September 1948, the Dixiecrats put out a progress report saying that they were expecting to win the Solid South. By that time, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina had already designated their electoral votes to the Thurmond/Wright ticket. However, many political analysts were predicting that Governor Thomas Dewey would win the presidency[16].
On September 25, Governor Thurmond sent a telegram to President Truman, challenging him to debate civil rights in Texas. Truman received the telegram while stopping in El Paso. When the press asked about the telegram, Truman only responded with “no comment.” Truman had no interest in discussing civil rights while in Texas for his campaign tour. Instead, while in the Lone Star State, Truman spent most of his time attacking the GOP[17].
Thurmond continued to egg Truman on the next week, inviting him to South Carolina. Thurmond put out a statement. He hoped President Truman “would come out to state and explain to our people why he saw fit to betray the principles of Jefferson and abandon the historic position of the Democratic Party on States’ rights by sending his so-called civil rights message to Congress.” President Truman’s campaign never went to South Carolina[18].
In the first week of October, Newsweek reported that 50 of the nation’s leading political writers unanimously predicted that Thomas Dewey would win the presidency[19]. In the South, newspaper editors who traditionally supported Democrats supported Republicans in the 1948 election in record numbers. These GOP-backing editors told their readers that there were more important issues than civil rights, like world peace and sound government. Dewey supported a civil rights program, too[20].
That same week, Strom Thurmond told reporters, “We’re not interested in winning the popular vote. We’re more concerned with the electoral vote. That’s what determines elections.” He declared that the Dixiecrats aimed to throw the election into the House of Representatives by taking enough Southern votes away from President Truman and Governor Dewey to deny either majority in the electoral college[21].
This idea had originated from Senator James Eastland earlier in 1948. Skeptics of this theory were quick to point out that Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, and they would continue to hold the House when it reconvened in 1949.
A week before the election, Kentucky Dixiecrats made the news after removing ten Black press members from their rally, calling it a segregated meeting[22]. In Nashville, hundreds of Black families got notes warning them not to vote, each signed by the KKK[23].
The 1948 presidential election happened on November 2.
America re-elected President Truman in what was known as one of the biggest political upsets in modern history. Truman won 303 electoral votes, Dewey won 189, and the Dixiecrats only won 39. Wallace didn’t win any electoral votes. Democrats also won the House and the Senate[24].
The only states that the Dixiecrats carried were Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Every other Southern State went to President Truman[25].
[1] Associated Press, “States Rights Party Centers Its Efforts on Texas’ Electoral Votes,” Evening Star, (August 12, 1948)
[2] The United Press, “Houston Oil Man to Entertain Dixiecrats,” Sweetwater Reporter, (August 8, 1948)
[3] The United Press, “Texas Democrat Fights Appears Headed for Court,” The Daily Sun, (August 6, 1948)
[4] Associated Press, “Anti-Truman Texans Map Plans to Attack Jester and Rayburn,” Evening Star, (August 2, 1948)
[5] Evening Star, “Thurmond Says Dixiecrat Label Puts Party Behind Eight Ball,” (September 3, 1948)
[6] Evening Star, “Democrats Threaten Suit Against Barring Truman in Louisiana,” (September 12, 1948)
[7] Associated Press, “Louisiana Measure Fails to Give Truman Democratic Emblem,” (September 25, 1948)
[8] Chalmers M. Roberts, “South May Back Elector Change to Gain Power,” Evening Star, (December 27, 1948)
[9] Henry Lesesne, “Dixie Views Gov. Thurmond as Liberal,” Evening Star, (September 12, 1948)
[10] Evening Star, “Democratic Split May Give GOP Virginia Electors, (September 2, 1948)
[11] Associated Press, “Georgia Negro Father Killed After He insists on Vote in Primary,” (September 12, 1948)
[12] Illinois Standard, “Laws Against Hate Mean Human Dignity for All,” (September 25, 1948)
[13] Jackson Advocate, “Slayers of GA Negro Voter Freed,” (November 13, 1948)
[14] Associated Press, “Georgia Klan Endorses Talmadge for Governor,” Evening Star, (August 13, 1948)
[15] Ohio Daily Express, “White Supremacy Returns to Georgia, Talmadge Elected Gov,” (September 13, 1948)
[16] Lexington Advertiser, “States Rights Democrats Make Progress Report,” (September 16, 1948)
[17] Joseph A. Fox, “Thurmond Challenges Truman to Civil Rights Showdown in Texas,”
[18] Associated Press, “Truman Should Visit State, Thurmond Said,”
[19] Associated Press, “Political Writers Favor Dewey,” The Nome Nugget, (October 8, 1948)
[20] Associated Press, “Many Dixie Editors Kicking Over Long Democratic Traditions, Support Dewey,” Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald, (October 25, 1948)
[21] The Potters Herald, “Thurmond Reveals Dixiecrat Scheme,” (October 7, 1948)
[22] The Miami Times, “Dixiecrats Rally Orders Negro Press Jim Crowed or Ousted,” (October 23, 1948)
[23] The Miami Times, “KKK Signed Notes Warned Nashville Negroes Not to Vote,” (November 13, 1948)
[24] Evening Star, “Truman Heads Back for Welcome by Half-Million Here Tomorrow Gets Voters’ Mandate on Policies,” (November 4, 1948)
[25] National Archives and Records Administration, “Electoral College Box Scores 1789 – 1996”