Our Campaigns Blog - Chronicler's Minutiae

The Candidates' Election Day - 1916
Posted September 11, 2020 at 08:00pm by Chronicler

=== Election of 11/7/1916 ===

The presidential election of 1916 was the first time since 1884 that the winner was not clear the morning after the election. The electoral vote lead changed hands throughout the evening on election day, and even the next day some states that had been "called" by newspapers switched to the other candidate. President Wilson eventually won a narrow victory over Charles E. Hughes. This election was the first time in US history that a candidate received over a million votes in any state (Hughes in Illinois).

Charles E. Hughes (Republican)

Judge Hughes arose early on election day. Looking outside and seeing a clear day, he said "It looks like a good Republican day." He decided to walk to his polling place before breakfast. A small group of "attendants" accompanied him to the polls. Hughes greeted several neighbors on the way to his voting place, which was a small laundry at 716 8th Avenue in New York City. Hughes voted at 7:05 am and was voter #13. A photographer captured his picture as he placed the ballot in the box and as he walked outside. Two additional policemen joined his detail at that time, as he went to the polls without his full complement. A stalled taxi backfired, and some of his security detail ran in the direction to investigate the noise. Hughes then walked back to the Hotel Astor where he was staying and spent most of the day quietly in his hotel suite.

An AP reporter wrote an article about the Hughes family evening; interestingly, his article was only published in a group of newspapers in Montana. Judge Hughes took an afternoon nap on election day, and upon waking he inquired about the status of returns. The existing returns indicated that Hughes had won New York State already, with a 150,000 plurality. His staff brought returns to him as he sat in his chair, and his wife and daughters stood behind him to read along with him. His son then arrived, and when the family prepared to sit for their first family meal in months, a cluster of returns reported, delaying their meal. A nearby company posted the returns in large letters on a tall building nearby, and the Hughes family could see these returns from their table. At 9:00, it was clear Hughes had won most states outside of the South. If he could hold the Western states that Wilson didn't carry in 1912, Hughes would be elected. His wife and daughters congratulated him on his election. A brass band set up outside his hotel and played to the crowd gathered for an appearance by Hughes. They sent a delegation to his room at 11 pm and requested a statement, but he replied that he wanted to have some more definitive information first. At 1:15 am, Hughes decided to go to bed. He informed his associates not to disturb his sleep, regardless of the news.

The results were not clear the morning after the election. When Hughes awoke, several states were still in doubt, and in some cases the lead changed hands several times overnight: California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Wilson was leading with 254 electoral votes to 235 for Hughes and 42 still undetermined. As the day progressed, additional states fell into place. Once Hughes heard the afternoon after election day that he had a lead in Minnesota, Charles and Antoinette Hughes took a car ride to get away from the returns. The situation hadn't improved much even by Thursday morning, when newspapers estimated that Wilson was leading 251-243. The Hugheses followed the returns through the day and finally decided to go to a movie in the evening of the 9th to take a break from the stress of the close election. The final returns from California reported overnight, giving Wilson an electoral vote lead of 272 to 243, plus 16 still doubtful (Minnesota and New Hampshire). Information came to hand that although Hughes had carried West Virginia, one of his presidential electors placed behind the Wilson electors due to a problem with ballots in a few counties.

By the end of the week, Hughes was ready to send his congratulatory telegram to the President. However, national Republicans asked him to wait until the California result was finalized because they were confident that the remaining precincts were Republican. This became a recurring debate between Hughes, who was bothered by the national press calling on him to concede, and the Republican Party leaders. Hughes eventually sent his telegram to Wilson on the 23rd.

Woodrow Wilson (Democratic)

President Wilson and the First Lady spent the night before election day at his "summer White House" at Shadow Lawn. They drove home to Princeton early on election day, and then they continued to his polling place just after 9 am. He voted in an old fire engine house where he had voted for many years. Some Princeton professors and students waited for him and cheered his arrival. Inside the polling place, a man set up a movie camera and filmed Wilson's path to collect his ballot, cast it, and place it in the ballot box. The First Lady guarded the automobile and laughed as the students tried to look inside the polling place to observe Wilson. While leaving, he turned down the students' call for a speech, then returned to the car and drove back to Shadow Lawn for a game of golf and rest for the evening. The summer White House had the advantage of providing privacy for Wilson but the disadvantage that reporters had little to write about what was happening with Wilson.

When the Wilsons went to bed late on election night, the race was still too close to call. Then when the President rose the following day, his secretary reported that he had 264 electoral votes, two shy of victory (this number included Minnesota, which Hughes ultimately carried). Wilson monitored the results for a while but eventually decided to play a game of golf. The First Lady spent her day packing to return to the White House. The Wilsons spent another night there, then took a brief visit to New England before returning to the White House.

Third Party Nominees

Allan Benson, the Socialist presidential nominee, ended his political campaign with an event in Pittsburgh the evening before the election (his 45th birthday). Reporters complained that the Socialists charged admission even though the room was packed. Election day was a quiet day for Benson. New York had an open period for voters to re-register, and Benson was campaigning in California during the entire registration window. Benson stayed in his house in Yonkers, New York on election day, as he was unable to vote. A reporter called on him as returns were coming in; when the reporter said that it looked like Hughes has been elected, Benson replied that he didn't care either way because there was little difference between Wilson and Hughes. He predicted that the nation would be in a war within four years.

J. Frank Hanly, the former Governor of Indiana, was the Prohibition presidential nominee. He had spent most of the year travelling around the nation in a private sleeper car. Ira Landrith, his running mate, had travelled along at the end and had missed the window in which his home state (Tennessee) had required all voters to re-register, so he couldn't vote. After the final Prohibition event in Franklin, Indiana, Hanly travelled to his house in the Meridian Highland section of Indianapolis, Indiana. Landrith returned the sleeper car to Chicago and monitored returns in a temporary party headquarters there. Hanly walked alone to his polling place at 8:15 am on election day; he voted in a vacant house on 21st Street between Meridian and Illinois Streets. On leaving the polling place, he estimated he would win half a million votes.

Newspapers ignored Arthur Reimer, the Socialist Labor presidential nominee.

Sources: Washington Evening Star, 11/7/1916; Billings Gazette, 11/8/1916; Seymour [Indiana] Tribune, 11/7/1916; Muncie Evening Press, 11/7/1916; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/7/1916; Chicago Tribune, 11/8/1916; Champaign Daily News, 11/8/1916; Fort Wayne News, 11/8/1916.

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