1956 United States presidential election

Re-election of Dwight D. Eisenhower related races 1956 United States elections January 2026 November 2013 1956 United States presidential election United States 1912 presidential 1952 United States presidential election 1952 November 6, 1956 1960 United States presidential election 1960 531 members of the Electoral College 266 electoral 60.2%http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present United States Election Project CQ Press 3.1 pp x200px File:Dwight David Eisenhower 1952 crop.jpg Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Party (United States) PennsylvaniaAlthough he grew up in Kansas before his military career, at the time of the 1952 election Eisenhower was president of Columbia University and was, officially, a resident of New York. During his first term as president, he moved his private residence to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and officially changed his residency to Pennsylvania.http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/presidents.php The Presidents September 27, 2017 David Leip Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was PennsylvaniaEisenhower Dwight D. Dwight Eisenhower C-SPAN Video https://www.c-span.org/video/?15187-1/eisenhower-election https://web.archive.org/web/20220517195007/https://www.c-span.org/video/?15187-1/eisenhower-election 2022-05-17 live Universal International 1956 Richard Nixon 457 41 35,579,180 35,579,180 62,021,328 1 yes File:Adlai Stevenson close-up.jpg Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Estes Kefauver 73In state-by-state tallies, Stevenson earned 74 pledged electors, but he lost one vote in Alabama to W. F. Turner, who voted for Jones & Talmadge, despite Stevenson carrying the state. 7 26,028,028 26,028,028 62,021,328 1 yes 350px Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Eisenhower/Nixon, blue denotes those won by Stevenson/Kefauver, and orange indicates an Alabama faithless elector who cast an electoral vote for Jones/Talmadge. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Party (United States) Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Party (United States) Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1956. Incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, were re-elected to a second term in a landslide victory, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson II, former Illinois governor and Senator Estes Kefauver, in a rematch of 1952. Eisenhower, who first became famous for his military leadership in World War II, remained widely popular. A heart attack in 1955 provoked speculation that he would not seek a second term, but his health recovered and he faced no opposition at the 1956 Republican National Convention. Stevenson remained popular with a core of liberal Democrats, but held no office and had no real base. He defeated New York Governor W. Averell Harriman and several other candidates on the first presidential ballot of the 1956 Democratic National Convention. Stevenson called for a significant increase in government spending on social programs and a decrease in military spending. With the end of the Korean War and a strong economy, Eisenhower was the heavy favorite to win re-election. Supporters of the president focused on his "personal qualities ... his sincerity, his integrity and sense of duty, his virtue as a family man, his religious devotion, and his sheer likeableness",Angus Campbell et al The American Voter https://books.google.com/books?id=JeYUrs_GOcMC&pg=PA56 1960 56 University of Chicago Press 9780226092546 rather than on his leadership record. The weeks before the election saw two major international crises in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and Eisenhower's handling of the crises boosted his popularity. Eisenhower slightly improved on his 1952 majorities in both the popular and electoral vote. He increased his 1952 gains among Democrats, especially Northern and Midwestern white ethnic groups and city-dwelling and suburban White Southerners.Robert R. Alford, "The role of social class in American voting behavior", Western Political Quarterly 16.1 (1963): 180–194. Surprisingly, Eisenhower narrowly lost Missouri, a bellwether state for most of the 20th century, and which had voted for him in 1952; at the same time he carried Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia, which had voted against him in the previous election. Eisenhower was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Louisiana, or any Deep South state for that matter, since 1876. This was the sixth and most recent rematch of an American presidential election, and the second time (after 1900) that the incumbent won a rematch. This was the last election before term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which first applied to Eisenhower, became effective. This was the last presidential election before the admissions of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, as well as the final presidential election in which the major party candidates were not both born in the 20th century. Eisenhower's victory was the first for an incumbent Republican president since 1924, and he became the first Republican to serve two full terms since Ulysses S. Grant in 1869–1877.Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge were elected for their second term in 1904 and 1924, respectively, but for their first full term since their first term were partial. William McKinley was elected for a second full term in 1900 but was assassinated six months into it. In contrast, Stevenson became the last major party presidential candidate to be unsuccessful in more than one election. Republican Party 1956 Republican Party presidential primaries 1956 Republican National Convention 65px|center|link=Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party (United States)1956 Republican Party ticket white Dwight D. Eisenhower white Richard Nixonfor Presidentfor Vice President center|200x200px center|200x200px 34thPresident of the United States(1953–1961) 36thVice President of the United States(1953–1961)Campaign Republican candidates Early in 1956, there was speculation that President Eisenhower would not run for a second term because of concerns about his health. In 1955, Eisenhower had suffered a serious heart attack. However, he soon recovered and decided to run for a second term. (In June 1956 he also underwent surgery for ileitis.) Given Eisenhower's enormous popularity, he was renominated with no opposition at the 1956 Republican National Convention in San Francisco. According to Steven Ambrose, Nixon was anguished that Eisenhower never liked him and had repeatedly delayed saying Nixon should be renominated for vice president. Ambrose also stated that Eisenhower favored Robert B. Anderson, a former Democrat who had served as United States Secretary of the Navy and United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, but Anderson declined to be considered. With Eisenhower worried about his health, he decided that Nixon had his shortcomings, but was better prepared to assume the presidency than any possible alternative. In Ambrose's view, "In itself, that was the highest possible tribute he could pay Nixon."Ambrose, Steven E., Nixon, Vol. 1: The education of a politician 1913-1962 (1987) p. 385 Harold Stassen was the only Republican to publicly oppose Nixon's re-nomination for vice president, and Nixon remained highly popular among the Republican rank-and-file voters. Nixon had worked hard to reshape the vice presidency. It became his platform to campaign for Republican state and local candidates across the country, and these candidates came to his defense. In the spring of 1956, Eisenhower publicly announced that Nixon would again be his running mate, and Stassen was forced to second Nixon's nomination at the Republican Convention. Unlike 1952, conservative Republicans (who had supported Robert A. Taft against Eisenhower in 1952) did not attempt to shape the platform. At the convention, Nebraska delegate Terry McGovern Carpenter voted for a fictitious "Joe Smith" for vice president to prevent a unanimous vote.Joe Smith Incident C-SPAN.org https://www.c-span.org/video/?3990-1/joe-smith-incident 2023-12-31 www.c-span.org Democratic Party 1956 Democratic Party presidential primaries 1956 Democratic National Convention 65px|center|link=Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party (United States)1956 Democratic Party ticket white Adlai Stevenson white Estes Kefauverfor Presidentfor Vice President center|200x200px center|200x200px 31stGovernor of Illinois(1949–1953) U.S. Senator from Tennessee(1949–1963)Campaign Democratic candidates Primaries thumb|450px|Results of the 1956 Democratic presidential primaries. Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic Party's 1952 nominee, fought a tight primary battle with populist Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver for the 1956 nomination. Kefauver won the New Hampshire primary unopposed (though Stevenson won 15% on write-ins). After Kefauver upset Stevenson in the Minnesota primary, Stevenson, realizing that he was in trouble, agreed to debate Kefauver in Florida. Stevenson and Kefauver held the first televised presidential debate on May 21, 1956, before the Florida primary.Childs Marquis W. May 22, 1956 Kefauver, Stevenson Agree in Attack On Administration in TV Debate 2 St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.newspapers.com/image/140077404/?terms=%22Stevenson%22%20%22Kefauver%22%20%22debate%22&match=1 May 16, 2022 Stevenson carried Florida by a 52–48% margin. By the time of the California primary in June 1956, Kefauver's campaign had run low on money and could not compete for publicity and advertising with the well-funded Stevenson. Stevenson won the California primary by a 63–37% margin, and Kefauver soon withdrew from the race. Popular vote results Adlai Stevenson - 3,051,347 (52.3%) Estes Kefauver - 2,278,636 (39.1%) Frank Lausche - 276,923 (4.7%) Unpledged - 171,198 (2.9%) John William McCormack - 26,128 (0.4%) Others - 28,360 (0.6%) SourceGuide to U.S. Elections CQ Press 2010 978-1-60426-536-1 Kalb Deborah Washington, DC 403 Democratic National Convention At the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, New York Governor W. Averell Harriman, who was backed by former President Harry S. Truman, challenged Stevenson for the nomination. However, Stevenson's delegate lead was much too large for Harriman to overcome, and Stevenson won on the first ballot. The roll call, as reported in Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, Convention Decisions and Voting Records, pp. 294–298: Presidential balloting, DNC 1956 Contender Vote Adlai Stevenson 905.5 W. Averell Harriman 210 Lyndon B. Johnson 80 Stuart Symington 45.5 Happy Chandler 36.5 James C. Davis 33 John S. Battle 32.5 George Bell Timmerman Jr. 23.5 Frank Lausche 5.5 Vice-presidential nomination Candidate Current position 100pxEstes Kefauver U.S. Senator from Tennessee 100pxJohn F. Kennedy U.S. Senator from Massachusetts 100pxAlbert Gore Sr. U.S. Senator from Tennessee 100pxRobert F. Wagner Jr. Mayor of New York City 100pxHubert Humphrey U.S. Senator from Minnesota The highlight of the 1956 Democratic Convention came when Stevenson, to create excitement for the ticket, made the surprise announcement that the convention's delegates would choose his running mate. This set off a desperate scramble among several candidates to win the nomination. Potential vice presidential candidates had only one hectic day to campaign among the delegates before the voting began. The two leading contenders were Senator Kefauver, who retained the support of his primary delegates, and Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts, who was not well known at the time. Although Stevenson privately preferred Senator Kennedy to be his running mate, he did not attempt to influence the balloting for Kennedy in any way. Kennedy surprised the experts by surging into the lead on the second ballot; at one point, he was only 15 votes shy of winning. However, a number of states then left their "favorite son" candidates and switched to Kefauver, giving him the victory. Kennedy then gave a gracious concession speech. The defeat was a boost for Kennedy's long-term presidential chances: as a serious contender, he gained favorable national publicity, yet by losing to Kefauver he avoided blame for Stevenson's loss to Eisenhower in November. The vote totals in the vice presidential balloting are recorded in the following table, which also comes from Bain & Parris. Vice Presidential balloting, DNC 1956 Ballot 1 2 before shifts 2 after shifts Estes Kefauver 466.5 551.5 755.5 John F. Kennedy 294.5 618 589 Albert Gore Sr. 178 110.5 13.5 Robert F. Wagner Jr. 162.5 9.5 6 Hubert Humphrey 134 74.5 2 Luther H. Hodges 40 0.5 0 P.T. Maner 33 0 0 LeRoy Collins 29 0 0 Clinton Presba Anderson 16 0 0 Frank G. Clement 14 0 0 Pat Brown 1 0 0 Lyndon B. Johnson 1 0 0 Stuart Symington 1 0 0 General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered DwightEisenhower (R) AdlaiStevenson (D) Other Undecided Margin Election ResultsNovember 6, 195657.37% 41.97% 0.66% - 15.40 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1453Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 1956 57% 39% 1% 3% 18 RoperOctober 28, 1956 Poll Indicate President Leads Election Race 7 The Morning Union https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-poll-indicate-presiden/161078646/ Newspapers.comOctober 28, 1956"Roper Polls" The publication date is used, as the dates of the survey were not given in the source 52% 43% - 5% 9 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1451October 7-12, 1956 51% 41% - 8% 10 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1449September 20-25, 1956 52% 40% - 8% 12 RoperSeptember 16, 1956 President Lacks Clear Majority For 1st Time 1 Tampa Bay Times https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-president-lacks-clear-ma/161077587/ Newspapers.comSeptember 16, 1956"Roper Polls" 48% 41% - 11% 7 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1447September 9-14, 1956 52% 41% - 7% 11 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1445August 23-28, 1956 52% 41% - 7% 11 August 20–23: Republican National Convention August 13–17: Democratic National Convention GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1438July 12-17, 1956 61% 37% - 2% 24 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1424April 19-24, 1956 62% 36% - 3% 26 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1415Mar. 29-Apr. 3, 1956 61% 37% - 2% 24 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1411March 8-13, 1956 61% 37% - 2% 24 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1404February 16-21, 1956 63% 33% - 4% 30 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1398January 6-11, 1956 56% 40% - 4% 16 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1384November 17-22, 1955 58% 39% - 3% 19 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1363August 25-30, 1955 59% 37% - 4% 22 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1338May 12-17, 1955 55% 39% - 6% 16 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1310January 20-25, 1955 57% 40% - 3% 17 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1266September 5-10, 1954 53% 47% - -Only Eisenhower and Stevenson voters were accounted in the source, not Undecided. 6 GallupGallup George George Gallup 1983 The 1935-1971 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II 1228March 19-24, 1954 45% 37% - 18% 8 Campaign Stevenson campaigned hard against Eisenhower, with television ads for the first time being the dominant medium for both sides. Eisenhower's 1952 election victory had been due in large part to winning the female vote; hence, during this campaign there was a plethora of "housewife"-focused ads. Some commentators at the time also argued that television's new prominence was a major factor in Eisenhower's decision to run for a second term at the age of 66, considering his weak health after the heart attack in 1955. Television allowed Eisenhower to reach people across the country without enduring the strain of repeated coast-to-coast travel, making a national campaign more feasible.Emmet John Hughes, "52,000,000 TV Sets-How Many Votes?" The New York Times, September 25, 1960, SM23 thumb|right|400px|Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of red are for Eisenhower (Republican), shades of blue are for Stevenson (Democratic), and shades of green are for Unpledged Electors/Andrews (Independent/States' Rights). thumb|right|400px|Results by congressional districts explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of red are for Eisenhower (Republican), shades of blue are for Stevenson (Democratic), and shades of green are for Unpledged Electors/Andrews (Independent/States' Rights). Stevenson proposed significant increases in government spending for social programs and treaties with the Soviet Union to lower military spending and end nuclear testing on both sides. He also proposed to end the military draft and switch to an "all-volunteer" military. Eisenhower publicly opposed these ideas, even though in private he was working on a proposal to ban atmospheric nuclear testing. Eisenhower had retained the enormous personal and political popularity he had earned during World War II, and he maintained a comfortable lead in the polls throughout the campaign. Eisenhower was also helped by his handling of two developing foreign-policy crises that occurred in the weeks before the election. In the Soviet-occupied People's Republic of Hungary, many citizens had risen in revolt in the Revolution of 1956 against Soviet domination, but the Soviets responded by invading the country on October 26. Three days later, a combined force of Israeli, British, and French troops invaded Egypt to topple Gamal Abdel Nasser and seize the recently nationalized Suez Canal. The resolution of the latter crisis rapidly moved to the United Nations,Borhi László Containment, Rollback, Liberation or Inaction? The United States and Hungary in the 1950s Journal of Cold War Studies 1 3 67–108 1999 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/152039799316976814?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jcws June 29, 2009 PDF 10.1162/152039799316976814 57560214 subscription As Vice President Richard Nixon later explained: "We couldn't on one hand, complain about the Soviets intervening in Hungary and, on the other hand, approve of the British and the French picking that particular time to intervene against [Gamel Abdel] Nasser". and the Hungarian revolt was brutally crushed within a few days by re-deployed Soviet troops. Eisenhower condemned both actions, but was unable to help Hungary; he did, however, forcefully pressure the western forces to withdraw from Egypt. While these two events led many Americans to rally in support of the president and swelled his expected margin of victory, the campaign was seen differently by some foreign governments.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824571,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081214121343/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824571,00.html dead December 14, 2008 How Britain France and Israel Got Together Time November 12, 1956 State Department officials are sure that the British and French callously deceived or misled them from this date onward. On October 23 Pineau dashed over to London, reportedly to tell Eden that Israel was all ready to launch preventive war on Nasser. Ben-Gurion's moment was well chosen because, it was reasoned, 1) the U.S. would not dare move decisively against Israel on the verge of a presidential election, and 2) the Hungarian rebellion, then at its height, would keep Russia's hands tied. The Eisenhower administration had also supported the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954; this ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court ended legal segregation in public schools. Meanwhile, Stevenson voiced disapproval about federal court intervention in segregation, saying about Brown that "we don't need reforms or groping experiments."Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972 Mickey Robert 2015-02-19 Princeton University Press 9780691149639 187 en This was an about-face from the national Democratic party platform's endorsement of civil rights in the 1948 campaign. Although Eisenhower "avoid[ed] a clear stand on the Brown decision" during the campaign,https://books.google.com/books?id=AK3PCgAAQBAJ Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965 Schickler Eric 2016-04-26 Princeton University Press 9781400880973 245 en in the contest with Stevenson, he won the support of nearly 40% of black voters; he was the last Republican presidential candidate to receive such a level of support from black voters. Results Eisenhower led all opinion polls by large margins throughout the campaign. On Election Day Eisenhower took over 57% of the popular vote and won 41 of the 48 states. Stevenson won only six Southern states and the border state of Missouri, becoming the first losing candidate since William Jennings Bryan in 1900 to carry Missouri. Eisenhower carried Louisiana, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state, or any state in the Deep South for that matter, since Rutherford Hayes had done so in 1876 during Reconstruction. Eisenhower also became the first Republican to win two presidential terms since William McKinley in 1900. Eisenhower, who had won in twenty-one of the thirty-nine cities with a population above 250,000 in the 1952 election, won in twenty-eight of those cities in the 1956 election. He had won six of the eight largest cities in the Southern United States in the 1952 election and won seven of them with Atlanta being the only one to remain Democratic.Murphy Paul 1974 Political Parties In American History, Volume 3, 1890-present G. P. Putnam's Sons Of the 3,101 counties/independent cities making returns, Eisenhower won the most popular votes in 2,143 (69.11%) while Stevenson carried 924 (29.80%). Unpledged Electors prevailed in 32 counties (1.03%) while Andrews carried two counties (0.06%). This election was the last in which Massachusetts voted Republican until 1980 and the last in which Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and West Virginia did so until 1972. Conversely this was the last election in which Mississippi voted Democratic until 1976, and is also the last election until 1976 when Alabama gave a majority of its electoral votes to the Democratic candidate. As of 2023, this remains the last time that Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina would back a losing Democratic presidential candidate. This was the last election in which Massachusetts and Minnesota simultaneously voted Republican. In 9 Southern states, a slate of third party options emerged as a protest to the civil rights movement. This was a continuation of the former Dixiecrat party from 1948. The states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia went a step farther, nominating Thomas Andrews for president, meanwhile in Kentucky they nominated senator Harry Byrd for president. The remaining states of Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana, left their electors as "Unpledged". Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Republican Pennsylvania 35,579,180 57.37% 457 Richard Nixon (incumbent) California Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Illinois 26,028,028 41.97% 73 Estes Kefauver Tennessee Walter Burgwyn Jones Democratic Alabama —(a) —(a) 1 Herman Talmadge Georgia (Unpledged electors) (n/a) (n/a) 196,318 0.32% 0 (n/a) (n/a) T. Coleman Andrews States' Rights Virginia 108,956 0.18% 0 Thomas H. Werdel California Eric Hass Socialist Labor New York 44,450 0.07% 0 Georgia Cozzini Wisconsin Enoch A. Holtwick Prohibition Illinois 41,937 0.07% 0 Edwin M. Cooper California Farrell Dobbs Socialist Workers New York 7,797 0.01% 0 Myra Tanner Weiss California Harry F. Byrd States' Rights Virginia 2,657 <0.01% 0 William E. Jenner Indiana Darlington Hoopes Socialist Pennsylvania 2,128 <0.01% 0 Samuel H. Friedman New York Henry B. Krajewski American Third New Jersey 1,829 <0.01% 0 Anna Yezo New Jersey Gerald L. K. Smith Christian Nationalist Michigan 8 <0.01% 0 Charles Robertson Michigan 8,691 0.01% 62,021,979 531 266 Source (Popular Vote): 1956 August 1, 2005Source (Electoral Vote): 1956 August 1, 2005 Popular vote 600px 410px Eisenhower Republican Party (US) 57.37 Stevenson Democratic Party (US) 41.97 Unpledged Democratic Party (US) 0.32 Others #777777 0.34 Electoral vote 600px 410px Eisenhower Republican Party (US) 86.06 Stevenson Democratic Party (US) 13.75 Jones Democratic Party (US) 0.19 650px|thumb|left Results by state Source: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1956&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0 1956 Presidential General Election Data - National March 18, 2013 States/districts won by Stevenson/KefauverStates/districts won by Eisenhower/Nixon Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican Adlai StevensonDemocraticT. Coleman Andrews/Unpledged ElectorsWas allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina States' Rights Eric Hass Socialist Labor Margin State Total State electoralvotes # % electoralvotes # % electoralvotes # % electoralvotes # % electoralvotes # % # Alabama 11 195,694 39.39 - 280,844 56.52 10 20,323 4.09 - - - - -85,150 -17.13 496,871 AL Arizona 4 176,990 60.99 4 112,880 38.90 - 303 0.10 - - - - 64,110 22.09 290,173 AZ Arkansas 8 186,287 45.82 - 213,277 52.46 8 7,008 1.72 - - - - -26,990 -6.64 406,572 AR California 32 3,027,668 55.39 32 2,420,135 44.27 - 6,087 0.11 - 300 0.01 - 607,533 11.11 5,466,355 CA Colorado 6 394,479 59.49 6 263,997 39.81 - 759 0.11 - 3,308 0.50 - 130,482 19.68 663,074 CO Connecticut 8 711,837 63.72 8 405,079 36.26 - - - - - - - 306,758 27.46 1,117,121 CT Delaware 3 98,057 55.09 3 79,421 44.62 - - - - 110 0.06 - 18,636 10.47 177,988 DE Florida 10 643,849 57.27 10 480,371 42.73 - - - - - - - 163,478 14.54 1,124,220 FL Georgia 12 216,652 32.65 - 441,094 66.48 12 - - - - - - -224,442 -33.83 663,480 GA Idaho 4 166,979 61.17 4 105,868 38.78 - - - - - - - 61,111 22.39 272,989 ID Illinois 27 2,623,327 59.52 27 1,775,682 40.29 - - - - 8,342 0.19 - 847,645 19.23 4,407,407 IL Indiana 13 1,182,811 59.90 13 783,908 39.70 - - - - 1,334 0.07 - 398,903 20.20 1,974,607 IN Iowa 10 729,187 59.06 10 501,858 40.65 - 3,202 0.26 - 125 0.01 - 227,329 18.41 1,234,564 IA Kansas 8 566,878 65.44 8 296,317 34.21 - - - - - - - 270,561 31.23 866,243 KS Kentucky 10 572,192 54.30 10 476,453 45.21 - - - - 358 0.03 - 95,739 9.09 1,053,805 KY Louisiana 10 329,047 53.28 10 243,977 39.51 - 44,520 7.21 - - - - 85,070 13.78 617,544 LA Maine 5 249,238 70.87 5 102,468 29.13 - - - - - - - 146,770 41.73 351,706 ME Maryland 9 559,738 60.04 9 372,613 39.96 - - - - - - - 187,125 20.07 932,351 MD Massachusetts 16 1,393,197 59.32 16 948,190 40.37 - - - - 5,573 0.24 - 445,007 18.95 2,348,506 MA Michigan 20 1,713,647 55.63 20 1,359,898 44.15 - - - - - - - 353,749 11.48 3,080,468 MI Minnesota 11 719,302 53.68 11 617,525 46.08 - - - - 2,080 0.16 - 101,777 7.60 1,340,005 MN Mississippi 8 60,685 24.46 - 144,498 58.23 8 42,966 17.31 - - - - -83,813 -33.78 248,149 MS Missouri 13 914,289 49.89 - 918,273 50.11 13 - - - - - - -3,984 -0.22 1,832,562 MO Montana 4 154,933 57.13 4 116,238 42.87 - - - - - - - 38,695 14.27 271,171 MT Nebraska 6 378,108 65.51 6 199,029 34.49 - - - - - - - 179,079 31.03 577,137 NE Nevada 3 56,049 57.97 3 40,640 42.03 - - - - - - - 15,409 15.94 96,689 NV New Hampshire 4 176,519 66.11 4 90,364 33.84 - 111 0.04 - - - - 86,155 32.27 266,994 NH New Jersey 16 1,606,942 64.68 16 850,337 34.23 - 5,317 0.21 - 6,736 0.27 - 756,605 30.46 2,484,312 NJ New Mexico 4 146,788 57.81 4 106,098 41.78 - 364 0.14 - 69 0.03 - 40,690 16.02 253,926 NM New York 45 4,340,340 61.19 45 2,750,769 38.78 - - - - - - - 1,589,571 22.41 7,093,336 NY North Carolina 14 575,062 49.34 - 590,530 50.66 14 - - - - - - -15,468 -1.33 1,165,592 NC North Dakota 4 156,766 61.72 4 96,742 38.09 - 483 0.19 - - - - 60,024 23.63 253,991 ND Ohio 25 2,262,610 61.11 25 1,439,655 38.89 - - - - - - - 822,955 22.23 3,702,265 OH Oklahoma 8 473,769 55.13 8 385,581 44.87 - - - - - - - 88,188 10.26 859,350 OK Oregon 6 406,393 55.25 6 329,204 44.75 - - - - - - - 77,189 10.49 735,597 OR Pennsylvania 32 2,585,252 56.49 32 1,981,769 43.30 - - - - 7,447 0.16 - 603,483 13.19 4,576,503 PA Rhode Island 4 225,819 58.26 4 161,790 41.74 - - - - - - - 64,029 16.52 387,611 RI South Carolina 8 75,700 25.18 - 136,372 45.37 8 88,511 29.45 - - - - -47,863 -15.92 300,583 SC South Dakota 4 171,569 58.39 4 122,288 41.61 - - - - - - - 49,281 16.77 293,857 SD Tennessee 11 462,288 49.21 11 456,507 48.60 - 19,820 2.11 - - - - 5,781 0.62 939,404 TN Texas 24 1,080,619 55.26 24 859,958 43.98 - 14,591 0.75 - - - - 220,661 11.28 1,955,545 TX Utah 4 215,631 64.56 4 118,364 35.44 - - - - - - - 97,267 29.12 333,995 UT Vermont 3 110,390 72.16 3 42,549 27.81 - - - - - - - 67,841 44.35 152,978 VT Virginia 12 386,459 55.37 12 267,760 38.36 - 42,964 6.16 - 351 0.05 - 118,699 17.01 697,978 VA Washington 9 620,430 53.91 9 523,002 45.44 - - - - 7,457 0.65 - 97,428 8.47 1,150,889 WA West Virginia 8 449,297 54.08 8 381,534 45.92 - - - - - - - 67,763 8.16 830,831 WV Wisconsin 12 954,844 61.58 12 586,768 37.84 - 6,918 0.45 - 710 0.05 - 368,076 23.74 1,550,558 WI Wyoming 3 74,573 60.08 3 49,554 39.92 - - - - - - - 25,019 20.16 124,127 WY TOTALS: 531 35,579,180 57.37 457 26,028,028 41.97 73 301,417 0.49 - 44,300 0.07 - 9,551,152 15.40 62,021,979 US States that flipped from Republican to Democratic Missouri States that flipped from Democratic to Republican Kentucky Louisiana West Virginia Close states Margin of victory less than 1% (24 electoral votes): Missouri, 0.22% (3,984 votes) Tennessee, 0.62% (5,781 votes) Margin of victory less than 5% (14 electoral votes): North Carolina, 1.33% (15,468 votes) Margin of victory over 5%, but under 10% (46 electoral votes) Arkansas, 6.64% (26,990 votes) Minnesota, 7.60% (101,777 votes) West Virginia, 8.16% (67,763 votes) Washington, 8.47% (97,428 votes) Kentucky, 9.09% (95,739 votes) Tipping point state: Florida, 14.54% (163,478 votes) (a) Alabama faithless elector W. F. Turner, who was pledged to Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver, instead cast his votes for Walter Burgwyn Jones, who was a circuit court judge in Turner's home town, and Herman Talmadge, governor of the neighboring state of Georgia. Because of the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states in 1959, the 1956 presidential election was the last in which there were 531 electoral votes. Statistics Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican) Gillespie County, Texas 92.61% Kenedy County, Texas 92.59% Kane County, Utah 90.20% Jackson County, Kentucky 88.35% Johnson County, Tennessee 87.44% Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic) Baker County, Georgia 96.07% Greene County, North Carolina 93.67% Berrien County, Georgia 93.56% Atkinson County, Georgia 93.37% Madison County, Georgia 93.24% Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other) Williamsburg County, South Carolina 73.00% Clarendon County, South Carolina 66.88% Sumter County, South Carolina 62.00% Bamberg County, South Carolina 59.66% Calhoun County, South Carolina 58.73% See also 1956 United States gubernatorial elections 1956 United States House of Representatives elections 1956 United States Senate elections History of the United States (1945–1964) Second inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower Notes Citations References Leip Dave http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/home.php?year=1956&f=0 1956 Presidential Election - Home States Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections May 24, 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20080918130449/http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/home.php?year=1956&f=0 September 18, 2008 dead https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/votes/1953_1957.html#1956 Electoral Votes for President and Vice President 1953–1965 U.S. Electoral College National Archives March 18, 2006 Campaign commercials from the 1956 election Senate Manual, 107th Congress http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_senate_manual&docid=sd001_107-41 March 18, 2006 2001 United States Government Printing Office 1131 1957–58 General Election Returns: November 6, 1956 Maryland Manual 167 325 http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000167/html/am167--325.html http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v3=1&ti=1,1&SC=CallNumber&SA=JK2353%201956&SID=1 Republican Party National Convention. (26th : 1956 : San Francisco) Library of Congress Online Catalog Library of Congress February 28, 2007 Further reading Converse, Philip E., Warren E. Miller, Donald E. Stokes, Angus Campbell. The American Voter (1964) the classic political science study of voters in 1952 and 1956 Divine Robert A. Foreign Policy and U.S. Presidential Elections, 1952–1960 1974 0-531-06496-4 registration https://archive.org/details/foreignpolicyus00robe, pp 87–182. Johnstone, Andrew, and Andrew Priest, eds. US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy: Candidates, Campaigns, and Global Politics from FDR to Bill Clinton (2017) pp 105–127. online Martin, John Bartlow. Adlai Stevenson and the World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1977) online Moon, Henry Lee. "The Negro Vote in the Presidential Election of 1956." Journal of Negro Education (1957): 219–230. online Nichols, David A. Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis--Suez and the Brink of War (2012). Scheele, Henry Z. "The 1956 Nomination of Dwight D. Eisenhower: Maintaining the Hero Image." Presidential Studies Quarterly (1987): 459–471. online Primary sources Gallup, George H. George Gallup The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935–1971 https://archive.org/details/galluppollpublic0000gall registration 3 vols. Random House 1972 9780394472706 Chester, Edward W A guide to political platforms (1977) online Porter, Kirk H. and Donald Bruce Johnson, eds. National party platforms, 1840-1964 (1965) online 1840-1956 External links The Election Wall's 1956 Election Video Page 1956 popular vote by counties The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials: 1952 – 2004 Eisenhower's 1956 presidential campaign, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library 1956-08-23_Its_Ike_and_Nixon It's Ike and Nixon! 1956/08/23 (1956)" 1956-11-08_Landslide_for_Eisenhower Landslide for Eisenhower, 1956/11/08 (1956)" 1956-11-05_Eisenhower_Re-Elected Eisenhower Re-Elected, 1956/11/05 (1956)" Election of 1956 in Counting the Votes https://web.archive.org/web/20190609131934/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1956/ June 9, 2019 See You at the Polls - A "Get Out the Vote" TV special for the 1956 presidential election. Produced by the Heritage Foundation and the Ad Council. Category:Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower Category:Dwight D. Eisenhower Category:Richard Nixon Category:Adlai Stevenson II Category:November 1956 in the United States