1956 United States presidential election

The **1956 United States presidential election** happened on November 6, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower won reelection to a second term. He defeated former Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson in a rematch of the 1952 presidential election.

Incumbent president Dwight D. Eisenhower won the election by 457 electoral votes. Adlai Stevenson got 73 electoral votes. Walter Burgwyn Jones got one vote by a faithless elector in Alabama.

This was the last election in which Alaska and Hawaii were not states.

Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in September 1955 while in Colorado for a vacation. His doctors told him not to run for another election. However, Eisenhower announced his candidacy for re-election on television in early 1956.

### Republican Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Dwight D. Eisenhower|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Richard Nixon|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1956 Republican Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|34th President of the United States <small>(1953–1961)</small>|36th Vice President of the United States <small>(1953–1961)</small>|||
|colspan="2"|**Campaign**|||
Republican candidates
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States <small>(1953-1961)</small> from Pennsylvania <small>_(Nominee)_</small>
- John W. Bricker, U.S. Senator <small>(1947-1959)</small> and 1944 vice presidential nominee from Ohio
- William F. Knowland, U.S. senator from California <small>(1947-1959)</small>
- S. C. Arnold, Secretary of State of Montana <small>(1955-1957) _(Favorite son candidate)_</small>
- Joe Foss, Governor of South Dakota <small>(1955-1959) _(Favorite son candidate)_</small>

### Democratic Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Adlai Stevenson II|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Estes Kefauver|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="29" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1956 Democratic Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|31st Governor of Illinois <small>(1949-1953)</small>|U.S. Senator from Tennessee <small>(1949–1963)</small>|||
|colspan="2"|**Campaign**|||
|colspan="2"||||

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1956 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1952 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1952
- **flag year**: 1912
- **next election**: 1960 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1960
- **election date**: November 6, 1956
- **votes for election**: 531 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 266 electoral
- **turnout**: 60.6%  2.7 percentage point, pp
- **image1**: Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959.jpg
- **nominee1**: **Dwight D. Eisenhower**
- **party1**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state1**: Pennsylvania
- **running mate1**: **Richard Nixon**
- **electoral vote1**: **457**
- **states carried1**: **41**
- **popular vote1**: **35,579,180**
- **percentage1**: **57.4%**
- **image2**: Portrait of Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II (cropped).jpg
- **nominee2**: Adlai Stevenson II, Adlai Stevenson
- **party2**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state2**: Illinois
- **running mate2**: Estes Kefauver
- **electoral vote2**: 73
- **states carried2**: 7
- **popular vote2**: 26,028,028
- **percentage2**: 42.0%
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1956.svg
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#CC2200;">Red</span> denotes those won by Eisenhower/Nixon, <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Stevenson/Kefauver. <span style="color:orange;">Orange</span> denotes won by Walter Burgwyn Jones by an Alabama faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- **before party**: Republican Party (United States)
- **after election**: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- **after party**: Republican Party (United States)