1928 United States presidential election

1928 United States presidential election
Public domain · source
Election name	1928 United States presidential election
Country	United States
Type	presidential
Previous election	1924 United States presidential election
Previous year	1924
Next election	1932 United States presidential election
Next year	1932
Votes for election	531 members of the Electoral College
Needed votes	266 electoral
Turnout	56.9% ▼ 8.0 pp
Election date	November 6, 1928
Nominee1	Herbert Hoover
Party1	Republican Party (United States)
Home state1	California
Running mate1	Charles Curtis
Electoral vote1	444
States carried1	40
Popular vote1	21,427,123
Percentage1	58.2%
Nominee2	Al Smith
Party2	Democratic Party (United States)
Home state2	New York
Running mate2	Joseph T. Robinson
Electoral vote2	87
Popular vote2	15,015,464
Percentage2	40.8%
Title	President
Before election	Calvin Coolidge
Before party	Republican Party (United States)
After election	Herbert Hoover
After party	Republican Party (United States)

1928 United States presidential election was held on November 6, 1928. The contest pitted Republican Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover against Democratic Governor of New York Al Smith. The election occurred during the peak of the Roaring Twenties economic boom, which heavily favored the incumbent Republican Party. Hoover's decisive victory, carrying 40 states, underscored the nation's preference for continuing Republican policies but also highlighted deep cultural and regional divisions over issues like Prohibition, religion, and urbanization.

Background

The political landscape was dominated by the prosperity of the Coolidge administration, with the President famously declaring "I do not choose to run" in 1927. The Republican Party was unified behind its record of economic growth, tax cuts under the Revenue Act of 1926, and a foreign policy of isolationism punctuated by agreements like the Kellogg–Briand Pact. The Democratic Party, still recovering from its disastrous 1924 convention split between urban Tammany Hall supporters and rural McAdoo supporters aligned with the Ku Klux Klan, sought a candidate who could bridge its internal divide. Lingering issues from the Scopes Trial and the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment created a cultural schism between the traditionally Democratic Solid South and the party's growing urban base in northern cities like New York City and Boston.

Nominations

The 1928 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, quickly nominated the widely popular Herbert Hoover, who had served with distinction under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. His running mate was Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis of Kansas, the first person of significant Native American ancestry on a major party ticket. The 1928 Democratic National Convention in Houston turned to four-term Governor of New York Al Smith, a progressive reformer known for his oversight of infrastructure projects like the Empire State Building. To balance the ticket geographically and ideologically, the convention selected Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, a Protestant and a "dry" supporter of Prohibition. Smith's nomination was historic, marking the first time a major party nominated a Roman Catholic for president.

General election

The campaign starkly contrasted the candidates' backgrounds and policy positions. Hoover, a Stanford University-educated engineer and self-made millionaire, championed rugged individualism, efficiency in government, and the continuation of Coolidge-era prosperity. He campaigned from the White House, giving a series of carefully crafted radio addresses. Smith, a product of the Lower East Side and Tammany Hall politics, advocated for progressive labor laws, the repeal of Prohibition, and was a vocal critic of the Teapot Dome scandal. His New York accent and religion became major issues, exploited by opponents like the Ku Klux Klan and prominent Protestant clergymen such as John Roach Straton. Key battlegrounds included the traditionally Democratic states of the Solid South and populous northern states like New York and Massachusetts.

Results

Hoover won a landslide victory, securing 444 electoral votes from 40 states, including a stunning breakthrough into the Solid South by carrying Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. He won the national popular vote by a commanding 58.2% to 40.8% margin. Smith carried only eight states: the six Deep South states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, plus his home state of New York and Massachusetts, relying heavily on urban, Catholic, and immigrant voters. The results revealed a dramatic political realignment, with many traditionally Democratic, Protestant, rural voters abandoning their party over cultural anxieties, while cities rallied to Smith. The Republican victory also extended to decisive gains in the House and Senate.

Aftermath

Hoover's inauguration in March 1929 was soon overshadowed by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. His adherence to voluntarism and limited federal intervention, exemplified by policies like the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, proved ineffective against the economic collapse, devastating his reputation. Smith's defeat, while crushing, solidified the Democratic Party's new coalition of urban, ethnic, and working-class voters, a coalition that would be masterfully organized by his former political ally, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt, who had succeeded Smith as Governor of New York, would leverage this base to defeat Hoover in the 1932 United States presidential election and enact the New Deal. The election is thus remembered as the last of the Third Party System and a critical prelude to the political upheavals of the 1930s.

Category:1928 United States presidential election 1928 Category:1928 elections in the United States