1848 French presidential election

The French presidential election of 1848 elected the first-and only- President of the Second Republic. The election was held on December 10, 1848 and led to surprise victory of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte with 75% of the votes.

Election

The constitution planned only on one round, and in the absence of a majority for any candidate, the National Assembly would have decided the victor. Louis-Eugène Cavaignac seemed certain to win, and the assembly would have most certainly elected him in the absence of an absolute majority. Bonaparte's unanticipated victory, however, was largely attributed to the division of the left and the low level of education (certain peasants reportedly thinking to have voted for the late Napoleon I).

Results

Candidate	Ideology	Percent
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte	Bonapartist	74.44%
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac	Centrist Republican	19.65%
Alexandre Ledru-Rollin	Royalist	5.08%
François-Vincent Raspail	Socialist	0.49%
Alphonse de Lamartine	Classical liberal	0.28%
Nicolas Changarnier	Legitimist	0.07%
Total		100%