Election Of 1908 Essay, Research Paper

Smith

Election of 1908

In the election of 1908 there were tree main candidates. His powerful voice, and

this great influence on the people was why the Democrats picked William Jennings

Bryan to run for President. The Republican Party picked William Howard Taft because

he was thought highly of by Theodore Roosevelt. The Third Party candidate was Eugene

Debs, who was picked by the Socialist Party. He was the only candidate to run for

presidency of the United States from a prison cell. There were four other nominees.

They were Eugene Chafin for the Prohibition Party, Thomas Hisgen for the Independence

Party, Thomas Watson for the Populist Party, and August Gillhaus for the Socialist Labor

Party. (A History of Presidental Elections)

The two main candidates Taft, and Bryan campaigned all over the united states.

Taft won most of the electoral votes in the north. His greatest victories would be

Pennsylvania with thirty four electoral votes and New York with thirty nine electoral

votes. Bryan won most of the Southern States. His greatest victory would be Texas with

only eighteen electoral votes. The greatest percentage of Popular Votes for Taft was 63%

from Maine. Bryan’s greatest percentage of Popular Votes was 94% for South Carolina.

Six of eight Maryland electors cast their ballots for Bryan, even though Taft won the state

by six hundred and five votes, which was about two-tenths of one percent.(A History of

Presidental Elections)

The 1908 election stood out compared to past elections because everyone

assumed that with the power Theodore Roosevelt had he would run again and become

President for a third term. Roosevelt agreed with George Washington’s two term plan.

Washington started this because he thought that being president anymore then two terms

would make you like a king almost. Instead of running again Roosevelt picked someone

he thought he could trust to run the Country as he would. Roosevelt could have picked

anyone and with his backing they probably would of won. Instead he picked a fifty year

old lawyer from Cincinnati, Ohio. Who by quincidence he was good friends with.(A

History of Presidental Elections)

The weird thing about Taft was that he was never elected to any office. He was

always appointed to positions. In 1887 Taft was appointed Judge in Ohio Supreme

Court. In 1890 Taft was made U.S. Solicitor General. Taft was appointed U.S. Circut

Court Judge in 1892. In 1901 he was appointed Governor of the Philippines, and then

Secretary of War in 1904 given to him by Roosevelt.(Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia)

With Roosevelt backing Taft in the election of 1908 there was nothing stopping

him. The election ended with Eugene Debs with four hounded twenty thousand eight

hundred fifty eight electoral votes, William J. Bryan with one billion six hundred

twenty six million four hundred ten thousand six hundred sixty five electoral votes,

and finally Taft with three billion two hundred seventeen million six hundred seventy

nine thousand one hundred fourteen electoral votes. Taft was officially the twenty

seventh President.(Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia)

Appy, Christian G., Mason, Lorna C., DiBacco, Thomas V., History of teh United

States.Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994

Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia. New York, Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1993

Rosebom, Eugene H., A History of Presidental Elections. New York, The Macmillian

Co., 1964