This alternate history article is all about the U.S. Presidential Election of 1956. In this revised election, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected by nearly 26 percentage points, and with nearly 63% of the popular vote.
Note: Unlike the numerous articles I’ve written before, I currently don’t necessarily envision this particular revision as being final. I’ve heard mixed stories regarding Eisenhower, and there may be a better man for the Presidency than Eisenhower was. After all, I’m looking in the long run for the preservation of the republic as envisioned by America’s Founding Fathers instead of it being watered down by bad actors and enemies. This I believe takes priority. The same thing applies to most, if not, all other presidential election articles I’ve written.
Introduction
This is a revision of the United States presidential election of 1956, the year of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s landslide reelection.
The previous presidential election, the one in 1952, was also a landslide for President Eisenhower. Eisenhower received 55.2% of the popular vote that year to Democrat Adlai Stevenson’s 44.3%, and I intend to keep these totals somewhat similar to that of the current timeline/version of history. In other words, the 1952 election will be virtually unchanged.
In the 1956 election of the current timeline, a rematch between Eisenhower and Stevenson, it was a slightly bigger landslide of over 15 percentage points compared to the nearly 11-point margin of 1952. But in this revised version of history, the 1956 election has a much larger margin of victory in favor of Eisenhower. Eisenhower has 62.7% of the popular vote compared to Stevenson’s 36.9%, and this results in a margin of nearly 26 percentage points!
I figured I’d do this since the 1950s was a very patriotic era in U.S. history, as it came in the aftermath of World War II. Also, Eisenhower was one of the most popular American presidents of the mid-20th century.
The revised election below is organized state-by-state in alphabetical order, for a total of 48 states; this takes place before Alaska and Hawaii are annexed and the District of Columbia is included in presidential elections.
United States presidential election, 1956 (results estimated)
Alabama
Adlai Stevenson (D): 272,262 (54.8%)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R): 214,542 (43.2%)
Other: 10,167 (2%)
Total: 496,971
Arizona
Eisenhower: 193,061 (66.5%)
Stevenson: 96,909 (33.4%)
Other: 303 (0.1%)
Total: 290,273
Arkansas
Eisenhower: 210,493 (51.8%)
Stevenson: 192,675 (47.4%)
Other: 3,504 (0.9%)
Total: 406,672
California
Eisenhower: 3,493,640 (63.9%)
Stevenson: 1,955,163 (35.8%)
Other: 18,552 (0.3%)
Total: 5,467,355
Colorado
Eisenhower: 447,642 (67.5%)
Stevenson: 210,934 (31.8%)
Other: 4,598 (0.7%)
Total: 663,174
Connecticut
Eisenhower: 712,564 (63.8%)
Stevenson: 404,452 (36.2%)
Other: 205 (0.0%)
Total: 1,117,221
Delaware
Eisenhower: 106,621 (59.9%)
Stevenson: 70,957 (39.8%)
Other: 510 (0.3%)
Total: 178,088
Florida
Eisenhower: 708,546 (63%)
Stevenson: 415,774 (37%)
Total: 1,124,320
Georgia
Stevenson: 402,965 (60.7%)
Eisenhower: 254,881 (38.4%)
Other: 5,734 (0.9%)
Total: 663,580
Idaho
Eisenhower: 197,798 (72.4%)
Stevenson: 75,149 (27.5%)
Other: 142 (0.1%)
Total: 273,089
Illinois
Eisenhower: 2,777,611 (63%)
Stevenson: 1,621,498 (36.8%)
Other: 8,398 (0.2%)
Total: 4,407,507
Indiana
Eisenhower: 1,306,269 (66.2%)
Stevenson: 660,550 (33.5%)
Other: 7,888 (0.4%)
Total: 1,974,707
Iowa
Eisenhower: 812,656 (65.8%)
Stevenson: 418,489 (33.9%)
Other: 3,519 (0.3%)
Total: 1,234,664
Kansas
Eisenhower: 623,247 (71.9%)
Stevenson: 240,048 (27.7%)
Other: 3,048 (0.4%)
Total: 866,343
Kentucky
Eisenhower: 611,792 (58.1%)
Stevenson: 436,953 (41.5%)
Other: 5,160 (0.5%)
Total: 1,053,905
Louisiana
Eisenhower: 340,754 (55.2%)
Stevenson: 254,630 (41.2%)
Other: 22,260 (3.6%)
Total: 617,644
Maine
Eisenhower: 249,606 (70.9%)
Stevenson: 102,200 (29.1%)
Total: 351,806
Maryland
Eisenhower: 592,479 (63.5%)
Stevenson: 339,972 (36.5%)
Total: 932,451
Massachusetts
Eisenhower: 1,463,651 (62.3%)
Stevenson: 877,836 (37.4%)
Other: 7,119 (0.3%)
Total: 2,348,606
Michigan
Eisenhower: 1,960,165 (63.6%)
Stevenson: 1,113,480 (36.1%)
Other: 6,923 (0.2%)
Total: 3,080,568
Minnesota
Eisenhower: 769,622 (57.4%)
Stevenson: 567,305 (42.3%)
Other: 3,178 (0.2%)
Total: 1,340,105
Mississippi
Stevenson: 119,018 (47.9%)
Eisenhower: 118,489 (47.7%)
Other: 10,742 (4.3%)
Total: 248,249
Missouri
Eisenhower: 1,079,255 (58.9%)
Stevenson: 753,407 (41.1%)
Total: 1,832,662
Montana
Eisenhower: 180,124 (66.4%)
Stevenson: 91,147 (33.6%)
Total: 271,271
Nebraska
Eisenhower: 428,714 (74.3%)
Stevenson: 148,523 (25.7%)
Total: 577,237
Nevada
Eisenhower: 65,342 (67.5%)
Stevenson: 31,447 (32.5%)
Total: 96,789
New Hampshire
Eisenhower: 181,971 (68.1%)
Stevenson: 85,012 (31.8%)
Other: 111 (0.0%)
Total: 267,094
New Jersey
Eisenhower: 1,634,991 (65.8%)
Stevenson: 822,388 (33.1%)
Other: 27,033 (1.1%)
Total: 2,484,412
New Mexico
Eisenhower: 158,309 (62.3%)
Stevenson: 94,677 (37.3%)
Other: 1,040 (0.4%)
Total: 254,026
New York
Eisenhower: 4,447,440 (62.7%)
Stevenson: 2,644,669 (37.3%)
Other: 2,227 (0.0%)
Total: 7,094,336
North Carolina
Eisenhower: 633,437 (54.3%)
Stevenson: 532,255 (45.7%)
Total: 1,165,692
North Dakota
Eisenhower: 182,920 (72%)
Stevenson: 70,688 (27.8%)
Other: 483 (0.2%)
Total: 254,091
Ohio
Eisenhower: 2,401,724 (64.9%)
Stevenson: 1,300,641 (35.1%)
Total: 3,702,365
Oklahoma
Eisenhower: 538,359 (62.6%)
Stevenson: 321,091 (37.4%)
Total: 859,450
Oregon
Eisenhower: 454,293 (61.8%)
Stevenson: 281,404 (38.2%)
Total: 735,697
Pennsylvania
Eisenhower: 2,928,110 (64%)
Stevenson: 1,639,011 (35.8%)
Other: 9,482 (0.2%)
Total: 4,576,603
Rhode Island
Eisenhower: 228,827 (59%)
Stevenson: 158,882 (41%)
Other: 2 (0.0%)
Total: 387,711
South Carolina
Eisenhower: 172,893 (57.5%)
Stevenson: 105,662 (35.1%)
Other: 22,128 (7.4%)
Total: 300,683
South Dakota
Eisenhower: 206,946 (70.4%)
Stevenson: 87,011 (29.6%)
Total: 293,957
Tennessee
Eisenhower: 545,006 (58%)
Stevenson: 384,193 (40.9%)
Other: 10,305 (1.1%)
Total: 939,504
Texas
Eisenhower: 1,198,028 (61.3%)
Stevenson: 742,649 (38%)
Other: 14,968 (0.8%)
Total: 1,955,645
Utah
Eisenhower: 224,078 (67.1%)
Stevenson: 110,017 (32.9%)
Total: 334,095
Vermont
Eisenhower: 110,614 (72.3%)
Stevenson: 42,425 (27.7%)
Other: 39 (0.0%)
Total: 153,078
Virginia
Eisenhower: 449,841 (64.4%)
Stevenson: 226,357 (32.4%)
Other: 21,880 (3.1%)
Total: 698,078
Washington
Eisenhower: 718,332 (62.4%)
Stevenson: 425,200 (36.9%)
Other: 7,457 (0.6%)
Total: 1,150,989
West Virginia
Eisenhower: 468,063 (56.3%)
Stevenson: 362,868 (43.7%)
Total: 830,931
Wisconsin
Eisenhower: 1,024,675 (66.1%)
Stevenson: 517,037 (33.3%)
Other: 8,946 (0.6%)
Total: 1,550,658
Wyoming
Eisenhower: 88,027 (70.9%)
Stevenson: 36,200 (29.1%)
Total: 124,227
United States (total)
Eisenhower: 38,916,448 (62.7%)
Stevenson: 22,864,080 (36.9%)
Other: 248,051 (0.4%)
Total: 62,028,579
First published on ClassicalFan’s Alternate History site on 29 May 2021, in the Politics and Presidential Elections series.
~QS