U.S. presidential election, 1908

The U.S. presidential election of 1908 was held on November 3, 1908. It was not a close race. Popular incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt, honoring a promise not to seek a third term, anointed William Howard Taft as his successor. The Democrats nominated a candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who had been defeated in two previous outings against Republican William McKinley. Taft defeated Bryan in a landslide.

Contents

1 Nominations 1.1 Republican Party nomination 1.2 Democratic Party nomination 2 General election 2.1 Results 3 See also

Nominations

Republican Party nomination

The 1908 Republican Convention was held in Chicago from 16 June to 19 June. Prominent Republican candidates included House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois, Charles Evans Hughes of New York, and Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, but William Howard Taft, the Secretary of War, prevailed with the backing of outgoing President Theodore Roosevelt.

Democratic Party nomination

The 1908 Democratic Convention was held in Denver from 7 July to 10 July. Despite a challenge by Minnesota governor John Albert Johnson, two time previous nominee William Jennings Bryan quickly won the overwhelming support of his party.

General election

Results

Presidential Candidate	Party	Home State	Popular Vote(a)		Electoral Vote	Running Mate	Running Mate's Home State	Running Mate's Electoral Vote
			Count	Percentage
William Howard Taft	Republican	Ohio	7,678,908	51.6%	321	James Schoolcraft Sherman	New York	321
William Jennings Bryan	Democratic	Nebraska	6,409,104	43.0%	162	John Worth Kern	Indiana	162
Eugene Victor Debs	Socialist	Indiana	420,793	2.8%	0	Benjamin Hanford	New York	0
Eugene Wilder Chafin	Prohibition	Illinois	253,840	1.7%	0	Aaron Sherman Watkins	Ohio	0
Thomas Louis Hisgen	Independence	Massachusetts	82,872	0.6%	0	John Temple Graves	Georgia	0
Thomas Edward Watson	Populist	Georgia	29,100	0.2%	0	Samuel Williams	Indiana	0
August Gilhaus	Socialist Labor	New York	14,021	0.1%	0	Donald L. Munro	Virginia	0
Daniel Braxton Turney	United Christian	Illinois	400	0.0%	0	Lorenzo S. Coffin	Iowa	0
Total			14,889,038	100%	483	Total		483
Needed to win					242	Needed to win		242

^(a) The popular vote total omits votes for candidates besides those listed, which skews the popular percentages up slightly.

See also

• President of the United States
• History of the United States (1865-1918)

See also: U.S. presidential election, 1908, 10 July, 16 June, 1908