The 1956 Presidential Election

At the September 12, 1956 campaign rally at the Eisenhower farm, the president stands beside a supporter whose dress and umbrella are made of "IKE" campaign fabric. Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Whether to run again

Most presidents take a second run for granted. For Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 1956 election hung over his first term as an open question until the last moment. There were strong reasons not to run:

• he had taken the presidency out of duty, and some of those obligations were met;
• his age — he had entered the White House at 62, then the oldest president to serve, putting off a long-wanted retirement;
• above all, his health: in September 1955 a severe heart attack kept him in bed for weeks and away from full-time work for months. To many, that ended any hope of a second campaign.

Yet as 1955 became 1956 he made no announcement. Torn, he sought advice from political and medical experts, friends and family, who argued both ways; the decision was his alone. On February 29, 1956, on television, he announced he would run, assuring Americans his health would not stop him finishing a second term. He believed his work was unfinished and that no strong Republican could complete it.

A quieter campaign

The 1952 campaign had been a lively whistle-stop affair. In 1956 the president saved his strength and made few public appearances, while Vice President Nixon campaigned harder than he did. There was confidence that Eisenhower's charm and popularity would carry him again.

Adlai Stevenson again

The Democrats again nominated Adlai Stevenson, whose message was simple: Eisenhower was an ineffective leader, rarely at work because of ill health or golf, leaving the country without strong leadership. Stevenson called for a ban on above-ground nuclear testing, new treaties with the Soviet Union to ease the Cold War, and an end to the draft in favour of an all-volunteer army. Eisenhower opposed all of it, which only strengthened his conviction that he was the one to lead at such a moment.

Crises

• Surgery. In early June the president needed an operation to clear a blockage in his small intestine and took more than a month to recover fully. Republicans moved quickly to keep it from feeding Democratic doubts about whether he would survive another four years.
• Suez. The greatest crisis came when Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal. Britain, France and Israel were outraged and demanded retaliation. Eisenhower did not want to alienate his wartime allies, but was just as unwilling to commit the United States to fighting in the Middle East.
• Hungary. The Suez crisis came to a head at the end of October, just as revolution broke out in Hungary.

The last days before the election were tense and uncertain, for the world and the country. In that strife Americans went to the polls — and re-elected Eisenhower in another landslide, choosing his leadership to keep the nation peaceful and prosperous.

Corrected: the article spells Stevenson's first name "Adali."

Sources

• National Park Service, Eisenhower National Historic Site, The 1956 Presidential Election.