1956 Democratic National Convention
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1956 presidential election | |
![]() ![]() Nominees Stevenson and Kefauver | |
Convention | |
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Date(s) | August 13–17, 1956 |
City | Chicago,Illinois |
Venue | International Amphitheatre |
Keynote speaker | Gov.Frank G. Clementof Tennessee |
Candidates | |
Presidential nominee | Adlai StevensonofIllinois |
Vice presidential nominee | Estes Kefauverof Tennessee |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Downtown_Chicago_at_night_%28August_11%2C_1956%29.jpg/220px-Downtown_Chicago_at_night_%28August_11%2C_1956%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Eleanor_Roosevelt_and_Harry_Truman_at_the_1956_Democratic_National_Convention_95-32_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Eleanor_Roosevelt_and_Harry_Truman_at_the_1956_Democratic_National_Convention_95-32_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The1956 Democratic National Conventionnominated former GovernorAdlai StevensonofIllinoisfor president andSenatorEstes KefauverofTennesseefor vice president. It was held in theInternational Amphitheatreon the South Side ofChicagofrom August 13 to August 17, 1956. Unsuccessful candidates for the presidential nomination includedGovernorW. Averell HarrimanofNew York,SenatorLyndon B. JohnsonofTexas,and SenatorStuart SymingtonofMissouri.
As the unsuccessful 1952Democratic Partypresidential nominee, Stevenson had the highest stature of the active candidates and was easily renominated on the first ballot. Former PresidentHarry 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.
After Stevenson decided not to reselect his 1952 running mateJohn Sparkman,the convention was marked by a "free vote" for the vice presidential nomination in which the winner, Kefauver, defeated SenatorJohn F. KennedyofMassachusetts.The vice presidential nomination vote, which required three separate ballots, was (as of 2020) the last multi-balloted contest held at a quadrennial political convention of any major U.S.political partyfor the presidency or vice presidency.
The Democratic convention preceded the1956 Republican conventionin theCow Palace,San Francisco, California.At the GOP gathering, PresidentDwight D. Eisenhowerand Vice PresidentRichard Nixonwere nominated for reelection.
Scheduling and logistics of convention[edit]
The 1956 Democratic convention was held beforethat year's Republican National Convention.This was unusual, as since1864,in every election but1888,Democrats had held their convention second. It has become an informal tradition that the party holding the White House (which, accordingly, in 1956 had been the Republican Party) hosts their convention second, but it is unclear when this tradition began. Democrats had held the White House and held their conventions second between1936and1952,but it is unclear whether they scheduled their conventions second in these years because of their White House incumbency, or whether they scheduled them second because it was traditional that Democratic National Conventions had been held after the Republican National Convention.[1]
This was the second election in which conventions were televised live coast-to-coast. Television had, by 1956, become the dominant medium of popular news coverage. To adjust to the medium of television, the convention was condensed in length compared to previous years, with daytime sessions being largely eliminated and the amount of welcoming speeches and parliamentary organization speeches being decreased (such as seconding speeches for vice-presidential candidates, which were eliminated). Sessions were also scheduled in order to maximize exposure to prime-time audience.[2]
The 1956 Democratic Platform[edit]
With regard to the growingCivil Rights Movement,the platform called for voting rights, equal employment opportunities, and thedesegregationof public schools. Relative to the Republicans, the Democrats favored greater reliance on theUnited 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.
Presidential nomination[edit]
Presidential candidates[edit]
The roll call, as reported in Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris,Convention Decisions and Voting Records,pp. 294–298:
Presidential Balloting | |
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Candidate | 1st |
Stevenson | 905.5 |
Harriman | 210 |
Johnson | 80 |
Symington | 45.5 |
Chandler | 36.5 |
Davis | 33 |
Battle | 32.5 |
Timmerman | 23.5 |
Lausche | 5.5 |
Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (August 16, 1956)
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1st Presidential Ballot
Vice presidential nomination[edit]
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, andJohn F. Kennedy,who, as a first term Senator from Massachusetts, 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 39 votes shy of winning. However, a number of states then left their "favorite son" candidates and switched to Kefauver, giving him the victory. Kennedy then gave a gracious concession speech. The narrow defeat raised his profile and helped Kennedy's long-term presidential chances; by losing to Kefauver he avoided any blame for Stevenson's expected loss to Eisenhower in November. As of 2020[update],this was the last time any presidential or vice presidential nomination of either the Democratic or Republican parties, went past the first ballot.
Candidates
The vote totals in the vice presidential balloting are recorded in the following table, which also comes from Bain & Parris.
Vice Presidential Balloting | |||||||
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Candidate | 1st (Before Shifts) | 1st (After Shifts) | 2nd (Before Shifts) | 2nd (During Shifts) | 2nd (After Shifts) | Unanimous | |
Kefauver | 466.5 | 483.5 | 551.5 | 551.5 | 755.5 | 1,372 | |
Kennedy | 294.5 | 304 | 618 | 648 | 589 | ||
Gore | 178 | 178 | 110.5 | 80.5 | 13.5 | ||
Wagner | 162.5 | 162.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 6 | ||
Humphrey | 134 | 134.5 | 74.5 | 74.5 | 2 | ||
Hodges | 40 | 40 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | ||
Maner | 33 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Collins | 28.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Anderson | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Clement | 13.5 | 13.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | ||
Brown | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | ||
Symington | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Johnson | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Not Voting | 3 | 3 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 |
Vice Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (August 17, 1956)
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1st Vice Presidential Ballot (Before Shifts)
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1st Vice Presidential Ballot (After Shifts)
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2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (Before Shifts)
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2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (During Shifts)
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2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (After Shifts)
Election outcome[edit]
On November 6, Stevenson and Kefauver lost the election to President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon in a landslide.
See also[edit]
- 1956 Republican National Convention
- 1956 United States presidential election
- History of the Democratic Party (United States)
- 1956 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- List of Democratic National Conventions
- United States presidential nominating convention
References[edit]
- ^"Whose Convention Goes First?".Slate Magazine.3 August 2000.Retrieved11 April2020.
- ^Jarvis, Sharon."PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS AND TELEVISION".www.museum.tv.Museum of Broadcast Communications.Archived fromthe originalon September 23, 2016.RetrievedApril 1,2017.
External links[edit]
- Democratic Party Platform of 1956atThe American Presidency Project
- Stevenson Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC(transcript) atThe American Presidency Project
- Video of Stevenson nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube)
- Audio of Stevenson nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC[permanent dead link]
- Video of Kefauver nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube)
Preceded by 1952 Chicago, Illinois |
Democratic National Conventions | Succeeded by 1960 Los Angeles, California |
- 1956 United States presidential election
- 1956 in Illinois
- 1950s in Chicago
- Political conventions in Chicago
- Democratic Party of Illinois
- Political events in Illinois
- Democratic National Conventions
- 1956 conferences
- August 1956 events in the United States
- 1950s political conferences
- Events at International Amphitheatre