Distribution of votes in the 1956 US presidential election

The 1956 presidential election in the United States saw a rematch of the two main candidates who contested the 1952 election. Incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower was seeking re-election for the Republican Party, while Adlai E. Stevenson was again on the ballot for the Democratic Party. Eisenhower maintained his considerable popularity from the Second World War, by keeping his campaign promise of ending the Korean War, as well as growing the economy and being an effective and charismatic leader. Despite a heart attack in 1955, Eisenhower faced no competition for the Republican Party's re-nomination, with Richard Nixon returning as his running mate. The Democratic primaries were not as certain however, yet Stevenson was re-nominated in due course, as his campaign was better funded and organized than any of his opponents. The Democratic National Convention nominated Stevenson on the first vote (future-President Lyndon B. Johnson was also on the ballot), but then Stevenson made an unprecedented move by allowing the DNC to also choose his running mate. Estes Kefauver was eventually named as Stevenson's running mate, with John F. Kennedy and Al Gore Sr. coming in second and third place respectively.

Eisenhower's campaign boost

In 1954, during Eisenhower's first term, his administration had supported the Supreme Court's ruling in the Brown v Board of Education, which ended the racial segregation of schools. While this angered many white voters in the Deep South (where segregation was deeply entrenched in daily life), it did earn Eisenhower the support of almost forty percent of black voters, which was the last time a Republican candidate received such support from the African-American community. In the weeks before the election, Eisenhower's response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the British-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt also increased his popularity at home. Eisenhower condemned both invasions while speaking at the UN, and even pressured the withdrawal of troops from Egypt.

Results

Eisenhower won by yet another landslide, increasing his margins of victory in the 1952 elections. Eisenhower carried 41 states, taking 84 percent of the electoral vote, and 57 percent of the popular vote. Stevenson won a majority in just seven states, taking 42 and 14 percent of the popular and electoral votes respectively. A faithless elector in Alabama also cast one electoral vote for Walter Jones (a local judge) instead of giving it to Stevenson. This was the final election to be contested in just 48 states, with Hawaii and Alaska being represented from 1960 onwards.