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1956 Democratic National Convention
1956 Democratic National Convention
1956 Democratic National Convention Date Venue City Presidential Nominee Vice Presidential Nominee August 13–17, 1956 International Amphitheatre Chicago, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee
coverage. The two men were so successful at this assignment that the network promoted them to anchor their evening news broadcast, the Huntley-Brinkley Report (1956-1970).
The 1956 Democratic Platform
The Democrats favored greater reliance on the United Nations, multilateral disarmament, more spending for programs relating to social welfare and agriculture, "a full and integrated program of development, protection, management and conservation of natural resources" and the use of peaceful atomic energy With regard to the growing issue of civil rights, the platform called for voting rights, equal employment opportunities, and the desegregation of public schools.
The 1956 National Convention of the Democratic Party nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for President and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for Vice President. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois August 13–17, 1956. Unsuccessful candidates for the presidential nomination included Gov. W. Averell Harriman of New York, Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, and Sen. Stuart Symington of Missouri. As the unsuccessful 1952 Democratic Party presidential nominee, Stevenson had the highest stature of the active candidates and was easily renominated on the first ballot. Former President Harry S. Truman, whose support for Stevenson in ’52 helped secure him the nomination, was opposed to his renomination in 1956, instead favoring Harriman. It did no good, as Truman was no longer a sitting President, and Stevenson was nominated on the first ballot. The convention was marked by a "free vote" for the vice-presidential nomination in which the winner, Kefauver, defeated Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The vicepresidential vote, which required three separate ballots, was one of the last multi-ballot contests held at the quadrennial political convention of any major U.S. political party. The Democratic convention preceded the Republican convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. At the GOP gathering, incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated for a second term. NBC-TV assigned two of its reporters, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, to co-anchor their 1956 convention television
The Presidential vote
The roll call, as reported in Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, Convention Decisions and Voting Records, pp. 294-298: Vice-Presidential Nomination The highlight of the 1956 Democratic Convention came when Stevenson, in an effort to create excitement for the ticket, made the surprise announcement that the convention’s delegates would choose his running mate. This set off a desperate scramble among several candidates to win the nomination; a good deal of the excitement of the vice-presidential race came from the fact that the candidates had only one hectic day to campaign among the delegates before the voting began. The two leading contenders were Senator Kefauver, who retained the support of his primary delegates, and young Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who was relatively unknown at that point. Kennedy surprised the experts by surging into the lead on the second ballot; at one point he was only 15 votes shy of winning. However, a number of states then left their "favorite son" candidates and switched to Kefauver, giving him the
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Presidential Balloting, DNC 1956 Contender Former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson New York Governor W. Averell Harriman
1956 Democratic National Convention
Vote 905.5 210 80 45.5 36.5 33 32.5 23.5 5.5
Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas Missouri Senator Stuart Symington Kentucky Governor Happy Chandler Georgia Congressman James C. Davis Former Virginia Governor John S. Battle South Carolina Governor George Bell Timmerman Ohio Governor Frank J. Lausche victory. Kennedy then gave a gracious concession speech. The defeat was actually a boost for Kennedy’s long-term presidential chances; by coming so close to defeating Kefauver he gained much favorable national publicity, yet by losing to Kefauver he avoided any blame for Stevenson’s expected loss to Eisenhower in November. The vote totals in the vice presidential balloting are recorded in the following table, which also comes from Bain & Parris. Vice Presidential candidates:
Senator Clinton Presba Anderson of New Mexico
Governor Frank G. Clement Senator of Albert Tennessee Gore, Sr. Governor Luther H. of Tennessee Hodges of North Carolina
Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota Senator Stuart
Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson of Texas
Symington Mayor of Missouri Robert F. Wagner, Jr. of New Senator York City Estes Ke- Senator John fauver of F. Kennedy Tennessee of On Massachusetts November 6, Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver lost the election to President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon in a landslide.
Election outcome
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vice Presidential Balloting, DNC 1956 Contender: Ballot Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Sr. New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey North Carolina Governor Luther Hodges P.T. Maner Florida Governor LeRoy Collins New Mexico Senator Clinton Anderson Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement California Attorney General Pat Brown Texas Senator Lyndon Johnson Missouri Senator Stuart Symington Preceded by 1952 Democratic National Conventions
1956 Democratic National Convention
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2 before shifts
2 after shifts 755.5 589 13.5 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
466.5 551.5 294.5 618 178 134 40 33 29 16 14 1 1 1 110.5 74.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 162.5 9.5
Succeeded by 1960
External links
• Democratic Party Platform of 1956, The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)
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