Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1888. The Republican ticket of former Indiana Senator Benjamin Harrison and former United States Minister to France Levi P. Morton of New York defeated the Democratic ticket of incumbent President Grover Cleveland of New York and former Ohio Senator Allen G. Thurman. It was the third of five U.S. presidential elections (and second within 12 years) in which the winner did not win the national popular vote, which would not occur again until 2000.

Cleveland, only the second Democratic president since the American Civil War (the first being Andrew Johnson) and the first elected as president (Johnson assumed office after Lincoln's assassination, and left at the end of the term), was unanimously renominated at the 1888 Democratic National Convention. Harrison, the grandson of former President William Henry Harrison, emerged as the Republican nominee on the eighth ballot of the 1888 Republican National Convention. He defeated other prominent party leaders such as Ohio Senator John Sherman and former Michigan Governor Russell Alger.

Tariff policy was the principal issue in the election, as Cleveland had proposed a dramatic reduction in tariffs, arguing that high tariffs were unfair to consumers. Harrison took the side of industrialists and factory workers who wanted to keep tariffs high. Cleveland's opposition to American Civil War pensions and inflated currency also made enemies among veterans and farmers. On the other hand, he held a strong hand in the Southern United States and the border states, and appealed to former Republican Mugwumps.

Cleveland won a narrow plurality of the popular vote, in large part due to the disenfranchisement of Black citizens (who mostly favored Harrison) in the South, but Harrison won the election with a majority in the Electoral College, marking the only time (as of 2024) that an incumbent president lost a reelection bid despite winning the popular vote. Harrison swept almost the entire North and Midwest, including narrowly carrying the swing states of New York and Indiana. This was the first time since 1856 that Democrats won the popular vote in consecutive elections. This was the first election since 1840 in which an incumbent president lost reelection. Cleveland was the last incumbent Democratic president to lose reelection until Jimmy Carter in 1980. As of 2024, this was the last presidential election in which the winner did not carry a single former slave state.

Nominations Republican Party nomination

1888 Republican Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President U.S. Senatorfrom Indiana(1881–1887) United States Ambassador to France(1881–1885)

The Republican candidates were former Senator Benjamin Harrison from Indiana; Senator John Sherman from Ohio; Russell A. Alger, the former governor of Michigan; Walter Q. Gresham from Indiana, the former Secretary of the Treasury; Senator William B. Allison from Iowa; and Chauncey Depew from New York, the president of the New York Central Railroad.

By the time Republicans met in Chicago on June 19–25, 1888, frontrunner James G. Blaine had withdrawn from the race because he believed that only a harmonious convention would produce a Republican candidate strong enough to upset incumbent President Cleveland. Blaine realized that the party was unlikely to choose him without a bitter struggle. After he withdrew, Blaine expressed confidence in both Benjamin Harrison and John Sherman. Harrison was nominated on the eighth ballot.

The Republicans chose Harrison because of his war record, his popularity with veterans, his ability to express the Republican Party's views, and the fact that he lived in the swing state of Indiana. The Republicans hoped to win Indiana's 15 electoral votes, which had gone to Cleveland in the previous presidential election. Levi P. Morton, a former New York City congressman and ambassador, was nominated for vice-president over William Walter Phelps, his nearest rival.

Democratic Party nomination

1888 Democratic Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 22ndPresident of the United States(1885–1889) U.S. Senator from Ohio(1869–1881)Campaign

Democratic candidates:

The Democratic National Convention held in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 5–7, 1888, was harmonious. Incumbent President Cleveland was re-nominated unanimously without a formal ballot. This was the first time an incumbent Democratic president had been re-nominated since Martin Van Buren in 1840.

After Cleveland was re-nominated, Democrats had to choose a replacement for Thomas A. Hendricks. Hendricks ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for vice-president in 1876, but won the office when he ran again with Cleveland in 1884. Hendricks served as vice-president for only eight months before he died in office on November 25, 1885. Former Senator Allen G. Thurman from Ohio was nominated for vice-president over Isaac P. Gray, his nearest rival, and John C. Black, who trailed behind. Gray lost the nomination to Thurman primarily because his opponents brought up his actions while a Republican.Jacob Piatt Dunn, George William Harrison Kemper, Indiana and Indianans (p. 724).

The Democratic platform largely confined itself to a defense of the Cleveland administration, supporting reduction in the tariff and taxes generally as well as statehood for the western territories.

Presidential Ballot UnanimousGrover Cleveland 822

Vice Presidential Ballot1st AcclamationAllen G. Thurman 684 822Isaac P. Gray 101John C. Black 36Blank 1

Prohibition Party nomination

Nominees 1888 Prohibition Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President Brigadier Generalfrom New JerseyPastorfrom MissouriCampaign

The 5th Prohibition Party National Convention assembled in Tomlinson Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana. There were 1,029 delegates from every state but three.

Clinton B. Fisk was nominated for president unanimously. John A. Brooks was nominated for vice-president.

Union Labor Party nomination

Nominees 1888 Union Labor Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President State Senatorfrom IllinoisActivistfrom ArkansasCampaign

300 to 600 delegates attended the Industrial Labor Conference in Cincinnati in February 1887, and formed the Union Labor Party. The delegates were generally made up of rural Greenbackers and urban trade unionists. Richard Trevellick, the chair of the conference, was a member of the Knights of Labor and a former member of the Greenback Party.

The party's 1888 convention nominated Alson Streeter for president unanimously. He was so widely popular that no ballot was necessary, instead, he was nominated by acclamation. Samuel Evans was nominated for vice president but declined the nomination. Charles E. Cunningham was later selected as the vice-presidential candidate.

The Union Labor Party garnered nearly 150,000 popular votes, but failed to carry any states or gain widespread national support. The party did, however, win two counties.

United Labor Party nomination

The United Labor Party convention nominated Robert H. Cowdrey for president on the first ballot. W.H.T. Wakefield of Kansas was nominated for vice-president over Victor H. Wilder from New York by a margin of 50–12.

Greenback Party

The Greenback Party was in decline throughout the entire Cleveland administration. In the election of 1884, the party failed to win any House seats outright, although they did win one seat in conjunction with Plains States Democrats (James B. Weaver) and a handful of other seats by endorsing the Democratic nominee. In the election of 1886, only two dozen Greenback candidates ran for the House, apart from another six who ran on fusion tickets. Again, Weaver was the party's only victor. Much of the Greenback news in early 1888 took place in Michigan, where the party remained active.

In early 1888, it was not clear if the Greenback Party would hold another national convention. The fourth Greenback Party National Convention assembled in Cincinnati on May 16, 1888. So few delegates attended that no actions were taken. On August 16, 1888, George O. Jones, chairman of the national committee, called a second session of the national convention. The second session of the national convention met in Cincinnati on September 12, 1888. Only seven delegates attended. Chairman Jones issued an address criticizing the two major parties, and the delegates made no nominations.

With the failure of the convention, the Greenback Party ceased to exist.

American Party nomination The American Party held its third and last National Convention in Grand Army Hall in Washington, DC. This was an Anti-Masonic party that ran under various party labels in the northern states.

When the convention assembled, there were 126 delegates; among them were 65 from New York and 15 from California. Delegates from the other states bolted the convention when it appeared that New York and California intended to vote together on all matters and control the convention. By the time the presidential balloting began, there were only 64 delegates present.

The convention nominated James L. Curtis from New York for president and James R. Greer from Tennessee for vice-president. Greer declined to run, so Peter D. Wigginton of California was chosen as his replacement.

Presidential BallotCandidate1stJames L. Curtis 45Abram S. Hewitt 15James S. Negley 4

Equal Rights Party nomination The second Equal Rights Party National Convention assembled in Des Moines, Iowa. At the convention, mail-in ballots were counted. The delegates cast 310 of their 350 ballots for the following ticket: Belva Ann Lockwood for president and Alfred H. Love for vice-president. Love declined the nomination, and was replaced with Charles S. Welles of New York.

Industrial Reform Party nomination The Industrial Reform Party National Convention assembled in Grand Army Hall, Washington, DC. There were 49 delegates present. Albert Redstone won the endorsement of some leaders of the disintegrating Greenback Party. He told the Montgomery Advertiser that he hoped to carry several states, including Alabama, New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.

General election campaign

Issues

Cleveland set the main issue of the campaign when he proposed a dramatic reduction in tariffs in his annual message to Congress in December 1887. Cleveland contended that the tariff was unnecessarily high and that unnecessary taxation was unjust taxation. The Republicans responded that the high tariff would protect American industry from foreign competition and guarantee high wages, high profits, and high economic growth.

The argument between protectionists and free traders over the size of the tariff was an old one, stretching back to the Tariff of 1816. In practice, the tariff was practically meaningless on industrial products, since the United States was the low-cost producer in most areas (except woolens), and could not be undersold by the less efficient Europeans. Nevertheless, the tariff issue motivated both sides to a remarkable extent.Paul F. Boller Jr., Presidential Campaigns (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 157-59.Reitano, Joanne. The Tariff Question in the Gilded Age: The Great Debate of 1888. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.

Besides the obvious economic dimensions, the tariff argument also possessed an ethnic dimension. At the time, the policy of free trade was most strongly promoted by the British Empire, and so any political candidate who ran on free trade instantly was under threat of being labelled pro-British and antagonistic to the Irish-American voting bloc. Cleveland neatly neutralized this threat by pursuing punitive action against Canada (which, although autonomous, was still part of the British Empire) in a fishing rights dispute.