United States presidential election of 1956 summary

Explore the history of the U.S. presidential election of 1956 and its results

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United States presidential election of 1956, United States presidential election of 1956, in which incumbent Republican Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson. It was the second consecutive election in which Stevenson lost to Eisenhower, who remained the Republican standard-bearer despite concerns about his health during his first term in office. Because of Eisenhower’s health issues, much attention shifted to his vice president and running mate, Richard Nixon. On the Democratic side, Stevenson failed to gain the support of former president Harry S. Truman but still won the nomination, outlasting Estes Kefauver, who became Stevenson’s running mate. Despite partisanship in the general election campaign, the candidates and their parties stood together on many vital security matters. In the end, Eisenhower defeated Stevenson by nearly 10 million votes in the popular vote and captured 457 electoral votes compared with 73 electoral votes for his Democratic challenger.

Republican Party Summary

Republican Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Democratic Party. During the 19th century the Republican Party stood against the extension of slavery to the country’s new territories and, ultimately, for slavery’s complete abolition. During the

Democratic Party Summary

Democratic Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it opposed

United States Summary

United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the

Dwight D. Eisenhower Summary

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States (1953–61), who had been supreme commander of the Allied forces in western Europe during World War II. Eisenhower was the third of seven sons of David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower. In the spring of 1891 the Eisenhowers