However, when the constitution of the French Second Republic was finally promulgated and direct elections for the presidency were held on December 10, 1848, Louis-Napoléon won in a landslide, with 5,454,000 votes (around 75% of votes) against his closest rival Louis-Eugene Cavaignac's 1,448,000 votes. His overwhelming victory was above all due to the support of the non-politicized rural masses, to whom the name of Bonaparte meant something, contrary to the names of the other contenders for the presidency which were unknown to the masses. Louis-Napoléon's platform was the restoration of order after months of political turmoil, strong government, social consolidation, and national greatness, to which he appealed with all the credit of his name, that of France's national hero Napoléon I who in popular memory was credited with bringing the nation to its pinnacle of military greatness and establishing social stability after the turmoil of the French Revolution.
Name recognition. Works everytime.
