1956 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

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|

1956 Democratic Party presidential primaries

* * *

| <- 1952 | March 11 to June 5, 1956 | 1960 ->

|
|

|  |  |

|
|

Candidate  | Adlai Stevenson II | Estes Kefauver
Home state  | Illinois | Tennessee
Contests won  | 7  | 9
Popular vote  | 3,069,504 | 2,283,172
Percentage  | 50.7% | 37.7%

* * *

* * *

| Previous Democratic nominee

Adlai Stevenson II

| Democratic nominee

Adlai Stevenson II

|

From March 11 to June 5, 1956, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1956 United States presidential election. Former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections[1] and caucuses culminating in the 1956 Democratic National Convention held from August 13 to August 17, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois.[2] This was the party's second consecutive nomination of Stevenson.[3]

## Candidates

[edit]

### Major candidates

[edit]

These candidates participated in multiple state delegate election contests or were included in multiple major national polls.

Candidate  | Most recent position  | Home state  | Campaign

|
|
|

Adlai Stevenson II

|  | Democratic nominee for President
(1952)
Former Governor of Illinois
(1949–53)  |  Illinois | (Campaign)

Estes Kefauver

|  | U.S. Senator from Tennessee
(1949–63)
U.S. Representative from Tennessee
(1939–49)  |  Tennessee |
Withdrew: June 1956
(Campaign)

W. Averell Harriman

|  | Governor of New York
(1955–58)
United States Secretary of Commerce
(1946–48)
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
(1946)
United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union
(1943–46)  |  New York |

### Favorite sons

[edit]

The following candidates ran only in their home state's primary or caucuses for the purpose of controlling its delegate slate at the convention and did not appear to be considered national candidates by the media.

* Former Governor John S. Battle of Virginia
* Governor Happy Chandler of Kentucky
* U.S. Representative James C. Davis of Georgia
* Governor Frank Lausche of Ohio
* House Majority Leader John W. McCormack of Massachusetts
* Governor George Bell Timmerman Jr. of South Carolina

### Declined to run

[edit]

* Former President Harry S. Truman of Missouri
* Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas

## Primary campaign

[edit]

Estes Kefauver sought the Democratic presidential nomination, as he had in 1952. Initially, he again won some Democratic Party presidential primaries.

In the March 13, 1956 New Hampshire presidential primary, Kefauver defeated Stevenson, his only formidable opponent for the nomination, by a margin of 21,701 to 3,806.

A week later, Kefauver defeated Stevenson in the March 20, 1956 Minnesota presidential primary, winning 245,885 votes compared to Stevenson's 186,723 votes. Kefauver was also victorious in the Wisconsin presidential primary. Stevenson picked up his native Illinois in a landslide. By April 1956, "it appeared that Kefauver was on his way to a primary sweep matching the spectacular performance in 1952."[4]

### Florida primary

[edit]

One of the first televised United States presidential debates was held as an hour long one-on-one debate between the party's top-two contenders, Kefauver and Stevenson.[5][6] The debate was held in Miami, Florida ahead of the state's primary.[5][6]

Russell Baker of The New York Times wrote that the two contenders took near-identical stances on most of the issues discussed in the debate.[5]

### California primary

[edit]

The June California primary proved decisive for the nomination, delivering Stevenson a major victory and leading to the suspension of Kefauver's campaign for the nomination.

## Polling

[edit]

This graph was using the legacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to the new Chart extension.

|

### National polling

[edit]

Poll source  | Publication  |

Averell Harriman

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Estes Kefauver

Frank Lausche

Adlai Stevenson

Stuart Symington

Harry S. Truman

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Gallup[7] | Aug. 1953  | –  | –  | 17%  | –  | 53% | 1%  | 11%
Gallup[7] | Aug. 1954  | –  | –  | 22%  | –  | 57% | –  | –
Gallup[7] | Nov. 1954  | 4%  | –  | 16%  | 2%  | 58% | –  | –
Gallup[7] | Mar. 1955  | 14%  | –  | 48% | 2%  | –  | 5%  | 1%
Gallup[7] | Apr. 1955  | 17%  | –  | 37% | 4%  | –  | 3%  | 1%
Gallup[7] | Aug. 1955  | 6%  | 1%  | 16%  | –  | 55% | –  | 1%
Gallup[7] | Oct. 1955  | 8%  | –  | 16%  | 2%  | 51% | 2%  | –
Gallup[7] | Nov. 1955  | 10%  | 1%  | 11%  | 1%  | 48% | 1%  | 1%
Gallup[7] | Nov. 1955  | 8%  | –  | 12%  | –  | 38% | –  | –
Gallup[7] | Dec. 1955  | 8%  | –  | 17%  | 3%  | 51% | –  | –
Gallup[7] | Jan. 1956  | 8%  | 3%  | 17%  | 3%  | 49% | –  | –
Gallup[7] | Feb. 1956  | 8%  | 2%  | 18%  | 2%  | 51% | 1%  | –
Gallup[7] | Apr. 1956  | 6%  | 3%  | 33%  | 2%  | 39% | 2%  | –
Gallup[7] | Apr. 1956  | 6%  | 4%  | 29%  | 3%  | 41% | 2%  | –
Gallup[7] | June 1956  | 8%  | 4%  | 26%  | 3%  | 42% | 3%  | –
Gallup[7] | June 1956  | 12%  | 4%  | 16%  | 3%  | 45% | 4%  | –

## See also

[edit]

* 1956 Republican Party presidential primaries
* 1956 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Login | Sage Publications". sso.sagepub.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
2. ^ "Login | Sage Publications". sso.sagepub.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
3. ^ "Login | Sage Publications". sso.sagepub.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
4. ^ Gorman, Joseph Bruce. Kefauver: A Political Biography. NY: Oxford University Press, 1971.
5. ^ a b c "Stevenson, Kefauver Find Agreement in TV Debate; H-Bomb Tests Noted STEVENSON FACES KEFAUVER ON TV". The New York Times. May 22, 1956. Retrieved September 10, 2020 - via timesmachine.nytimes.com.
6. ^ a b "1st-Ever Televised Presidential Debate From 1956 Now Online". Illinois Public Media. June 15, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "US President - D Primaries Polling". OurCampaigns.com. December 11, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2020.

* v
* t
* e

(← 1952) 1956 United States presidential election (→ 1960)

Republican Party|

* Convention
* Primaries

Candidates|

* Incumbent nominee: Dwight D. Eisenhower
* Incumbent VP nominee: Richard Nixon

Democratic Party|

* Convention
* Primaries

Candidates|

* Nominee: Adlai Stevenson II
* VP nominee: Estes Kefauver

* Other candidates: John S. Battle
* Happy Chandler
* James C. Davis
* John F. Kennedy
* W. Averell Harriman
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Frank Lausche
* George Bell Timmerman Jr.

Third-party and independent candidates

American Vegetarian Party|

* Nominee: Herbert M. Shelton
* VP nominee: Symon Gould

Prohibition Party|

* Nominee: Enoch A. Holtwick
* VP nominee: Herbert C. Holdridge

Socialist Labor Party|

* Nominee: Eric Hass
* VP nominee: Georgia Cozzini

Socialist Party|

* Nominee: Darlington Hoopes
* VP nominee: Samuel H. Friedman

Socialist Workers Party|

* Nominee: Farrell Dobbs
* VP nominee: Myra Tanner Weiss

Independents and other candidates|

* T. Coleman Andrews
* Gerald L. K. Smith

* Other 1956 elections: House
* Senate

* v
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(1955 ←)  1956 United States elections (→ 1957)

President|

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Defunct|

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|

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Presidential
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U.S. House
leaders,
Speakers,
and
Caucus
chairs|

* A. Stevenson (1827–1834)
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U.S. Senate
leaders
and
Caucus
chairs|

* J. W. Stevenson (1873–1877)
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* Pendleton (1881–1885)
* Beck (1885–1890)
* Gorman (1890–1898)
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Chairs of
the DNC|

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