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Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Eisenhower/Nixon, blue denotes those won by Stevenson/Kefauver, orange is the electoral vote for Walter B. Jones by an Alabama faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican
The United States presidential election of 1956 was the 43rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1956. The popular incumbent President, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, successfully ran for re-election. The election was a re-match of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Adlai Stevenson, a former Illinois governor, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier.
Eisenhower was popular, although his health had become a quiet problem. Stevenson remained popular with a core of liberal Democrats, but held no office and had no real base. As the country enjoyed peace - Eisenhower had ended the Korean War - and economic growth, few doubted a successful re-election for the charismatic Eisenhower.
Compared to the 1952 election, Eisenhower gained Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia from Stevenson, while losing Missouri.
This was the last presidential election before the admissions of Alaska and Hawaii, which would participate for the first time as states in the 1960 presidential election. It was also the last election in which any of the major candidates was born in the 19th century, and it is the latest where both candidates were renominated for a rematch of the previous presidential election.