On November 6, 1956, Dwight Eisenhower was reelected to a second term as the 34th president of the United States. The Republican received 457 votes in the Electoral College, compared with 73 for Democrat Adlai Stevenson, while securing 35,590,472 votes in the popular vote, or 57.4 percent. Stevenson received 26,022,752 votes, equal to 42 percent.
The vote was a repeat of the 1952 presidential contest, when Eisenhower first won the White House. He then received 442 votes in the Electoral College, compared with 89 for Stevenson. On January 20, 1953, he was sworn in as president, and four years later American voters gave him another term.
A repeat of the electoral clash
Stevenson was once again the Democratic Party’s candidate, with Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver as his running mate. Eisenhower ran alongside Vice President Richard Nixon, who was also reelected.
The campaign took place against a backdrop of economic growth and tensions in international relations. The main issues included the Cold War, the nuclear rivalry, relations with the Soviet Union, and the Suez Crisis, which erupted in the final weeks before the vote. Stevenson questioned the president’s age and health, but Eisenhower retained high personal popularity.
The popular slogan „I Like Ike“ from the 1952 campaign was extended into the formula „I Still Like Ike“. The 1956 victory was more convincing than his first electoral win and reinforced his position in American politics.
The second term begins in January 1957
After the election, Eisenhower thanked the Americans who had voted for his administration. „This is a solemn moment,“ he said in a radio and television address on November 7, 1956, describing the result as support for the principles and ideals he had defended together with his colleagues.
His second term began with an unusual ceremonial sequence. January 20, 1957, was a Sunday, so Eisenhower took the oath privately at the White House. The public ceremony was held the following day, January 21, in front of the Capitol in Washington. He and Nixon were officially sworn in for their second terms, and Eisenhower delivered his second inaugural address.
Eisenhower remained president until January 20, 1961, when Democrat John F. Kennedy took office. Thus, the 1956 election became Eisenhower’s final presidential victory and the second consecutive term in which he led the United States at the height of the Cold War.
Sources: history.com, apnews.com