The Democratic National Convention of 1948 occurred in Philadelphia between July 12 – 14[1]. From the start of the convention, the party drew the line between the Southern Conservative Democrats and the Liberal wing. Both sides had extremists, and the centrists tried to get them to find a middle ground and compromise on the Democratic platform[2].
In 1948, Liberal Democrats were considered extremists. In today’s terms, their positions would be the positions of everyone in both parties, as all they wanted was an end to discrimination and segregation.
On July 11, the Dixiecrats came to town early and met at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Southern governors Laney, Thurmond, and Wright were there with hundreds of Southern delegates[3]. They planned for Governor Laney to run point for them on the South’s demands[4]. However, there were reports that Laney stayed in his hotel room and missed much of the convention.
The Dixiecrats wanted a “States Right Plank” added to the national platform. The plank would leave it up to the states to decide on poll taxes and legislation dealing with lynching, employment, and segregation. Their plank also would have denied the federal government from getting involved in civil rights matters. The Dixiecrats also said that states would have authority over submerged oil lands. They added that point, specifically as an attempt to bring Texas into the Dixiecrat fold[5].
Going into July 12, the National Democratic Party had been mostly silent on the civil rights plank of the platform. Even though in 1948, the Democrats had a solid record of constructive progress, the civil rights plank was the number one cause of the Democrat's fracture[6]. However, Truman’s allies were the clear majority, and few doubted that Truman would be nominated[7].
Virginia had recently passed the Anti-Truman Law, threatening that Virginia delegates would defect from the national party if they nominated Truman for another term. The Credentials Committee held a hearing on the morning of the 12th before the convention began. There were some Democrats who were pushing to ban Virginia unless they subscribed to a party loyalty pledge[8].
In a peculiar twist of logic, at the Virginia Democratic State Convention, the week before the National Convention, white Virginia Democrats spoke about Truman’s civil rights program for Black people that would lead to the enslavement of the white population. Their keynote speaker, W. Taylor Murphy, assailed Truman’s program, calling it a “hydra-headed federal bureaucracy, leading the 48 states and their people into bondage.” Murphy added, “The illusion of additional civil rights is what the program offers. Control of the destiny of the American people is what the program seeks[9].”
Despite Virginia’s anti-Truman law, the Virginia delegates ultimately did sign the party loyalty pledge and attended the convention[10].
Virginia wasn’t the only state that made grandiose plans around rejecting Truman. Olin D. Johnston, the South Carolina Senator, had planned to resolve the national convention to withdraw Truman as the nominee and replace him with Eisenhower[11] but abandoned it at the last minute[12].
One of FDR’s sons, James Roosevelt, was the California State Democratic Central Committee chairman and prominent in the draft Eisenhower movement. Roosevelt led an anti-Truman campaign leading up to the convention[13], but it collapsed shortly before the national meeting[14].
Although the South Carolina delegates made it to the convention, many elected leaders from South Carolina didn’t come to Philadelphia. A court battle in their home state against the illegal white primaries they implemented in South Carolina detained them[15].
The consensus from Southern states was the best chance the Democratic Party had at harmony was not to adopt Truman’s Civil Rights Plank.
The convention's first two days played out as expected from a national party convention in the 1940s.
India Edwards, the Chair of the Women’s Division of the National Committee, spoke while pulling items out of a bag on stage. Raw meat, a quart of milk, and a pound of margarine. Each time she pulled an item out of the bag, she announced its price. Then, she spoke about how it was the Republicans’ fault that the costs of groceries were rising. Newspapers later wrote about her dress and her pearl necklace, making little mention of her talking points[16].
Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, the keynote speaker, spoke mainly of the New Deal and how FDR had recovered America from the Great Depression. “The farmer agriculture adjustment and price support program increased farm income by 800%, substantially reduced interest rates on farm credit, reduced farm mortgage indebtedness by 50%, and reduced farm foreclosures by 95%,” he told the crowd[17].
Barkley’s speech focused on the New Deal because, at the GOP convention the week before, the Republicans brutally attacked it—however, the New Deal split Republicans. The Conservatives opposed it, while the Liberals supported it[18].
The standout stars of the 1948 National Democratic Convention were Senator Barkley[19] and Governor McGrath[20]. They both spent the convention attacking Republicans and tiptoeing around their party fractures.
States outside of the South tolerated the Southern States. In Missouri, Truman’s home state, delegates even spread the message of forgiveness to Truman’s foes, including the Southern rebels[21].
There was a lot of drama surrounding who would be the VP pick. The VP drama only caused a more significant rift between the Northern and Southern Democrats. William Douglas, an associate justice on the Supreme Court, was the VP pick for most conventions[22]. However, the Southern States asserted that Douglas was too liberal. Ultimately, the Democrats picked Senator Barkley as Truman’s VP[23].
Everyone expected walkouts from Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina as the convention continued. Many called it a diabolical scheme by the Southern anti-Truman delegates. Multiple speakers told the Dixie delegates to stop cutting the party’s throat in public[24].
The Southern Democrats behaved rowdy and caused trouble throughout the entire convention.
On the first day, signs everywhere said, “We’re just WILD about Harry.” Tennessee Democrats also made signs that they carried on the last day of the convention, saying, “We’re just MILD about Harry[25].”
Southern Democrats attempted to introduce the “States’ Rights Plank,” the audience booed and hissed. The National Party did not adopt the plank[26].
Who would be the Dixiecrat nominee for president? The Southern Democrats couldn’t agree. Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and South Carolina pledged their support to Arkansas Governor Ben Laney. Florida initially promised their votes to Fielding Wright[27], but pledges were given to Laney when no other states committed to Wright. Louisiana delegates pledged to vote for their own Governor, Earl Long[28].
Then, on the last day, the Dixiecrats pledged they would nominate Senator Barkley[29]. Some of them snuck into the convention space the night before the final day and plastered signs that said, “Barkley for President.” When everyone showed up on the last day, July 14, these signs were plastered all over the walls and chairs[30].
Outside of the convention, on July 14, national news was breaking that the Georgia State Democratic Party, along with Governor Talmadge, had conspired with the Ku Klux Klan to interfere with federal elections. They did this by stopping Blacks and other minorities from voting in the Georgia primary elections[31].
Another stunt the Southern Democrats pulled on the last day of the election was when a delegate from Alabama paid the band leader $500 to play “Dixie.” And when the band played Dixie, the Dixiecrats all stood whooped, cheered, stood on their chairs, and waved Confederate flags[32].
However, none of the Dixiecrats’ charades managed to get them their way. Democrats did not put the States’ Rights Plank on the national platform. The National Party adopted a civil rights plank, which supported an anti-lynching law, the desegregation of the military, equal opportunity employment, and the elimination of poll taxes[33].
When the convention adopted Truman’s civil rights plank, the Mississippi delegates and half of the Alabama delegates walked out[34].
At the last moment, as the delegates voted, the Southern States changed their pledge again and ultimately voted for Senator Russell, from Georgia, to be the presidential nominee[35]. It wasn’t enough, though. Truman got the votes needed to clinch the nomination. Senator Barkley received the Vice President nomination.
Truman handled the walkout gracefully and used his speaking time to attack Republicans on inflation and civil rights. Truman said to a screaming crowd, “Senator Barkley and I will win this election and make these Republicans like it. Don’t you forget that! We’ll do that because they’re wrong, and we’re right.”
A few other quotes from Truman’s 1948 acceptance speech[36]:
“The Democratic Party is the people’s party. And the Republican Party is the party of special interests. It always has been, and it always will be.”
“The record on the foreign policy of the Democratic Party is that the United States has been turned away permanently from isolationism, and we’ve converted the greatest and best of the Republicans to our viewpoint on that subject.”
“Foreign policy should be the policy of the whole nation and not the policy of one party or another. Partisanship should stop at the water’s edge, and I’ll preach that through my whole campaign.”
“The situation in 1932 was due to the Republican Party's control of the United States. The Republican Party, as I said a while ago, favors the privileged few and not the common man. Ever since its conception, the Republican Party has been under the control of special privilege, and they concretely proved it in the 80th Congress.”
While wrapping up his speech, Truman challenged the Republican majority to live up to its platform from its recently concluded convention to pass laws to ensure civil rights, extend Social Security, and establish a national healthcare program. He called for a special Congressional session on July 26, 1948.
During the convention wrap-up, the National Party put out the following statement: “The Democratic Administration and Democratic Party are solely responsible for gains in recent years to reduce and eliminate unfair and illegal discrimination based on race, creed, or color[37].”
Walter White, NAACP head, called all the newspapers and attacked the Southern Democrats. “The Democratic Party has been too dominated by those who have obtained power through disenfranchisement, lynching, and racial discrimination,” White said, “The day of reckoning has come when the Democratic Party must decide whether it is going to permit bigots to dictate its philosophy[38].”
The Dixiecrats met for their convention in Birmingham, AL, on July 17[39].
[1] Evening Star, “Questions and Answers,” (March 28, 1948)
[2] J. A. O’Leary, “Truman Opposition is Splitting as Democrats Rush Windup; Only Rights Fight Remains,” Evening Star, “(July 14, 1948)
[3] Associated Press, “States’ Rights Line Believed Dropped; Text is Moderate,” Evening Star, (July 12, 1948)
[4] Evening Star, “President Expected to Accept Nomination in Speech Tonight,” (July 12, 1948)
[5] Associated Press, “Strong States Rights Plank Proposed for Democratic Platform, Evening Star, (July 6, 1948)
[6] Evening Star, “Convention is Gaveled to Order; Lawrence Draws Mild Applause,” (July 12, 1948)
[7] Gould Lincoln, “Nearly Unanimous Vote Now Seen for Truman,” (July 10, 1948)
[8] Associated Press, “Plea to Bar Virginians Who Won’t Vow Party Loyalty Up for Hearing,” Evening Star, (July 12, 1948)
[9] The Voice, “VA Dems See Civil Rights as Slavery for Whites,” (July 15, 1948)
[10] Associated Press, “Dissident Democrats to Protest Seating of Virginia Delegates,” Evening Star, (July 11, 1948)
[11] J. A. O’Leary, “Democrats are Urged to Seek Restoration of Price Controls Now,” Evening Star, (July 9, 1948)
[12] Gould Lincoln, “Gen Eisenhower Wires Pepper His Final and Complete Refusal to Take Democratic Nomination,” Evening Star, (July 9, 1948)
[13] Evening Star, “Leaders from 16 States Call Democratic Caucus to Map Stampede to Gen Eisenhower,” (July 4, 1948)
[14] Gould Lincoln, “Gen Eisenhower Wires Pepper His Final and Complete Refusal to Take Democratic Nomination,” Evening Star, (July 9, 1948)
[15] The Detroit Tribune, “Negroes May Vote in Dems’ White Primary,” (July 17, 1948)
[16] Associated Press, “Steak Held Aloft at Convention as Democrats Beef About Prices,” Evening Star, (July 13, 1948)
[17] Gould Lincoln, “Barkley Acceptable to Truman; Liberal Victory on Civil Rights, Taft Act Repeal Plank Reported,” Evening Star, (July 13, 1948)
[18] Gould Lincoln, “GOP Convention is Opened, Recesses After Brief Session; Foreign Policy Plank Under Fire,” Evening Star (June 21, 1948)
[19] Associated Press, “South Wins One Bout, Loses Convention Test Over Two-Thirds Rule,” (July 14, 1948)
[20] Evening Star, “Chairman McGrath,” Evening Star, (July 14, 1948)
[21] Associated Press, “Forgive Foes of Truman, Missouri Democrats Told,” (July 12, 1948)
[22] Gould Lincoln, “Rug-Pulling Highlighting Democratic Convention,” Evening Star, (July 13, 1948)
[23] Gould Lincoln, “Barkley Acceptable to Truman; Liberal Victory on Civil Rights, Taft Act Repeal Plank Reported,” Evening Star, (July 13, 1948)
[24] Evening Star, “Truman Opposition is Splitting as Democrats Rush Windup; Only Rights Fight Remains,” (July 14, 1948)
[25] Associated Press, “Highlights 1948 Democratic Platform,” The Daily News-Telegram, (July 14, 1948)
[26] Evening Star, “Truman Opposition is Splitting as Democrats Rush Windup; Only Rights Fight Remains,” (July 14, 1948)
[27] Evening Star, “Gov. Laney, With 92 Votes in Bag, Plans to Fight Until End,” (July 13, 1948)
[28] Evening Star, “Truman Opposition is Splitting as Democrats Rush Windup; Only Rights Fight Remains,” (July 14, 1948)
[29] Gould Lincoln, “Barkley Acceptable to Truman; Liberal Victory on Civil Rights, Taft Act Repeal Plank Reported,” Evening Star, (July 13, 1948)
[30] Associated Press, “Barkley for President Signs Blossom Out on Convention Floor,” Evening Star, (July 14, 1948)
[31] The Ohio Daily Express, “KKK Interfered with Federal Elections Says Non-Sectarian League,” (July 14, 1948)
[32] Evening Star, “Song Nearly Unites Convention, Almost Disrupted by Speeches,” (July 15, 1948)
[33] David Lawrence, “Federal Steam Roller, Majority Rule Credited for Truman Victory,” Evening Star, (July 15, 1948)
[34] Gould Lincoln, “McGrath Expected to be Retained as Committee Head,” Evening Star, (July 15, 1948)
[35] Associated Press, “Russell Won’t Permit Southerners to Name Him as Truman Rival,” Evening Star, (July 15, 1948)
[36] Associated Press, “Text of President Truman’s Acceptance Speech,” Evening Star, (July 15, 1948)
[37] Associated Press, “States’ Rights Line Believed Dropped; Text is Moderate,” Evening Star (July 12, 1948)
[38] Associated Press, “Democrats Hear CIP Demands for Roosevelt Policy,” Evening Star, (July 8, 1948)
[39] Associated Press, “Southern Demos to Fight for States’ Rights,” The Nome Nugget, (July 16, 1948)