How To Lose An Election: A Brief History Of The Presidential Concession Speech

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A congratulatory telegraph from William Jennings Bryan, Democratic presidential candidate in 1896, is considered to be the first public concession in U.S. presidential politics.





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Al Smith gave the first radio concession in 1928, after losing to Herbert Hoover. In 1940, moviegoers watched Wendell Willkie concede to Franklin D. Roosevelt in a newsreel. After losing to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, Adlai Stevenson gave his concession on live television.

Over the past 120 years, there have been 32 concession speeches.

And there’s a template, a roadmap that candidates follow for the speech they hoped they’d never have to give, says Paul Corcoran, a professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia and a political theorist who studies U.S. presidential campaigns.

The template includes four elements:

The statement of defeat: Although they never use the word «defeat, a candidate will acknowledge their opponent’s victory and congratulate them.

I’ve sent the following wire to President Truman. My heartiest congratulations to you on your election and every good wish for a successful administration. — Thomas Dewey (1948), after his loss to Harry S. Truman

The call to unite: In a show of bipartisanship, a candidate will express support for their former opponent and call for unity under their leadership.

I have great faith that our people, Republicans, Democrats alike, will unite behind our next president. — Richard Nixon (1960), after his loss to John F. Kennedy





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Hillary Clinton pauses during her concession speech in New York following the 2016 election.





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But maybe, the most dramatic concession in U.S. history was in 2000, part of a political saga that played out over 35 days.

After a remarkably close election, Al Gore called George W. Bush to concede — only to call less than an hour later to retract that concession. Gore contested the election results in Florida and a recount began.

The legal battle landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Gore in Bush v. Gore. On Dec. 13, 2000, then-Vice President Gore conceded again.








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There is no law that says a concession has to happen. It’s just a custom, a tradition. But as elections get messier and uglier, and voters are polarized, Corcoran says a public concession is more important than ever.

«The whole campaign is a formalized warfare, he says. «The more I looked at the concession speech, the more I realized that it’s an important political function. There needs to be a ceremonial recognition of an end.

Ultimately, the concession isn’t about the losing candidate accepting the loss, it’s about their supporters accepting it.

Corcoran compares it to a Shakespearean drama. At the end, there’s a soliloquy or epilogue, usually given by a character standing over the fallen, strewn across the stage. The epilogue pronounces the scale of the tragedy, and how by bearing witness, the community can heal the wounds and restore harmony.

Shakespeare, says Corcoran, would have known how to write a good concession speech.

This story was produced by Joe Richman of Radio Diaries with help from Nellie Gilles, and edited by Deborah George and Ben Shapiro. Thanks to Scott Farris, author of Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race But Changed the Nation. To hear more stories from Radio Diaries, subscribe to their podcast at www.radiodiaries.org.