United States Presidential Election of 1888

Harrison won the college 233 to 168 while Cleveland won the popular vote.

Overview

Tariffs dominated as Benjamin Harrison, protecting high duties, defeated President Cleveland 233 to 168, even though Cleveland won the popular vote by about 0.8 points, aided by suppressed Black votes and Democratic margins in the Solid South. It was the third such split, after 1824 and 1876, and prompted the first serious college-abolition amendment proposal. Cleveland returned in 1892, and the Billion Dollar Congress's spending under Harrison set up the 1890s realignment.