Thread by @WillMcAvoyACN

The first example of a concession is said to be John Adams private congratulations to Jefferson after the latter’s victory in 1800. While concession speeches did not become a thing until the 1920s when radio became a popular medium. Still concessions by telegram were common.

But the election I want to focus on here is the Election of 1916.

Democrat Woodrow Wilson was running for re-election against Charles Evans Hughes, who had resigned from the Supreme Court in order to run for President. Hughes was a compromise candidate for the GOP.

1912 had famously split the party between Taft and Roosevelt, which allowed Wilson to coast to victory. 1916 was different, especially among the early returns. The race was close but early returns were pointing to a Hughes victory. Indeed crowds began to gather in Times Square...

...expecting a speech. However Hughes declined to speak that night, saying “If I have been elected President, it is because the people of this country think that I’ll keep my shirt on in an emergency.” Still, many people went to bed that night believing Hughes had won.

As the week continued and the votes continued to be tallied it became clear that Hughes had, albeit narrowly, lost the election to Wilson. But it took until Friday to get enough votes from rural California for confirm that Wilson had won.

Wilson won CA by fewer than 4,000 votes

Some high ranking Republican officials believed that the could make the case of fraud because the vote took so long to come in. Hughes, however, saw no evidence of fraud and refused to consider their request to contest the election.

It did take Hughes two weeks to ultimately concede to Hoover, but he did so and made it clear he was doing so because it was what was best for the country.