In 1948 Preston Parks, a Tennessee elector for Harry S. Truman, cast his electoral vote for Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, the States' Rights candidate.1 Parks was a member of Tennessee's Democratic Party and had been appointed one of its electors early in the election year.2 Before the election, members of the Democratic Party split off to form the States' Rights party, and Parks vowed in advance to vote for its candidate, Thurmond, instead of Truman.3 Another elector made the same pledge but voted for Truman.4
Electors who vote for candidates other than those they were pledged to are commonly called faithless electors.5 Thurmond received 39 electoral votes in all, and the States' Rights ticket carried Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.6 Truman was elected on November 2, 1948, and the States' Rights votes were too few to affect the outcome.7
Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine later said that 1948 was the first time since 1820 that an elector had chosen to ignore the mandate of the party slate he was elected on.8
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Each numbered entry quotes the words that support that sentence, as they appear on the linked page.
- Back to sentence 1
Preston Parks, a Tennessee elector for Harry S. Truman (D), voted for Governor Strom Thurmond (States' Rights) of South Carolina
everycrsreport.com/reports/RL30804.html - Back to sentence 2
Preston Parks was a member of Tennessee's Democratic Party. He was appointed as one of their state electors early in the election year.
archive.fairvote.org/?page=973 - Back to sentence 3
Before the election, members of the Democratic Party split off and formed the States Rights party.
archive.fairvote.org/?page=973 Parks vowed before the election to vote for Senator Strom Thurmond, the States Rights Party candidate instead of Harry Truman.
archive.fairvote.org/?page=973 - Back to sentence 4
Another elector also made the same pledge but ended up voting for Truman.
archive.fairvote.org/?page=973 - Back to sentence 5
"faithless electors" have voted for presidential and vice presidential candidates other than those to whom they were pledged
everycrsreport.com/reports/RL30804.html - Back to sentence 6
1948—39 electoral votes for Strom Thurmond (States' Rights Party)
everycrsreport.com/reports/RL30804.html The Dixiecrats carried Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana, where Thurmond and Wright were listed as the Democratic Party nominees.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/dixiecrats - Back to sentence 7
To the surprise of most Americans, Truman was elected president on November 2, 1948.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/dixiecrats The party received only 39 electoral votes; too few to affect the outcome.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/dixiecrats - Back to sentence 8
(By EDMUND S. MUSKIE, U. S. Senator from Maine)
abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/ajcr/1969/Electoral College.html electors always assumed that if they ran for office as a Presidential elector on a party slate, they were bound to honor their party's candidate for President.
abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/ajcr/1969/Electoral College.html In 1948, for the first time since 1820, an elector chose to ignore that mandate.
abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/ajcr/1969/Electoral College.html
Sources checked on October 3, 2026
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