1956 Presidential Election
The United States presidential election of 1956 saw a popular Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully run for re-election. The 1956 election was a rematch of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Democrat Adlai Stevenson, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier.
Incumbent President Eisenhower was popular, but had health conditions that became a quiet issue. Stevenson remained popular with a core of liberal Democrats but held no office and had no real base. He (and Eisenhower) largely ignored the civil rights issue. Eisenhower had ended the Korean War and the nation was prosperous, so a landslide for the charismatic Eisenhower was never in doubt.
This was the last presidential election prior to the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, who would first take part as states in the 1960 presidential election. It was also the last election where at least one of the major candidates was born in the 19th century.
1956 Election Results
|Candidate||Party||Electoral Votes||Popular Votes|
|✓||Dwight D. Eisenhower (I)||Republican||457||35,581,003|
|Other: See Election Facts Below||1|
1956 Election Facts
- Stevenson won Alabama; however one elector cast a vote for Walter B. Jones
- Issues of the Day: Communism/USSR (McCarty hearings, Hungary, Suez Canal), Brown Segregation Ruling