Final answer:
The 1888 presidential election saw Republican Benjamin Harrison defeating incumbent Democrat Grover Cleveland, despite losing the popular vote. The tightly contested election highlighted the deep political divisions of the era and the crucial role of the Electoral College. Cleveland would later return to win the presidency in the 1892 election.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 1888 election was a significant political contest in which Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland. Despite losing the popular vote, Harrison won the presidency through the Electoral College, largely due to his support for high tariffs that appealed to voters in the industrial North. This was another extremely close election, reflecting a period of closely contested presidential races in which the popular vote often showed less than a one percent difference in preference between the major party candidates.
Following the contentious 1876 election, which set a tone of electoral dispute and division, presidential elections had become predictable, with the Democrats dominating the South and the Republican party strong in the North and West. The election of 1888, like the previous ones, demonstrated the deep political divisions of the era and highlighted the importance of the Electoral College in deciding the presidency.
The rise of tariffs under Harrison did not deter Cleveland, who would return to defeat Harrison in the 1892 election, a contest also notable for the emergence of a third party that shifted focus from tariffs to other compelling issues for most voters. This period, known as the Gilded Age, also saw significant local political activism.