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Republican Ticket
Presidential candidate: DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, President
VP candidate: RICHARD NIXON, Vice President
Popular votes: 35,590,472 (57.4%)
Electoral votes: 457
Democratic Ticket
Presidential candidate: Adlai E. Stevenson II, former Illinois Governor
VP candidate: Estes Kefauver, Tennessee Senator
Popular votes: 26,022,752 (42.0%)
Electoral votes: 73
1956 US Electoral Map: How each state voted. Election Results. Wisconsin's Choice: Eisenhower.

Election Facts

  • Stevenson called for an end to the peacetime draft and a ban on nuclear testing, but many deferred to Eisenhower as the better judge of America's position in global affairs.
  • This election showed a desire for the status quo.
  • The economy was booming and many voters seemed content and complacent.
  • Divisive issues were downplayed and little conflict emerged.
Wisconsin delegation to the Republican National Convention, San Francisco, August 1956.
WHI 56968
Dwight Eisenhower on a fishing trip in northern Wisconsin, 1956.
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Stevenson backer John Shaat pays off a bet by towing Eisenhower supporter Edwin Warner, Milwaukee, November 10, 1956. Photo by Foster C. Stanfield.
WHI 22947