Presidential election of the United States of 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson, campaigns and results

Presidential election of the United States of 1952American presidential election held on November 4, 1952, in which Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower easily defeated Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson.

At a glance: the 1952 election

Primary and conventions

Without outgoing candidate in the White HouseThere was an intense interest in who would win the appointment of each of the two main parties. There was also speculation as to whether a serious third party candidacy, as Strom Thumond‘s Dixiecrat submission 1948would materialize, especially for Douglas MacArthurThe general who led The United Nations Forces in Korea until he was relieved of his duties in 1951 to insubordination by the president Harry S. Truman.

Party primaries for convention delegates took place between March 11 and June 3 in the following order: New Hampshire,, MinnesotaNebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois,, New Jersey,, Pennsylvania,, new YorkMassachusetts, Maryland, Ohio,, Virginie-WesternOregon, Florida, CaliforniaAnd South Dakota. The primary elections were optional in three other states – Alabama, Arkansasand Georgia – and have been set by state committees.

While the 1952 campaign approached, Eisenhower said he was a republican, and the oriental wing of this party, led by the governor. Thomas E. Dewey From New York, the unsuccessful party candidate in 1948, made an intensive effort to persuade Eisenhower to request the republican presidential appointment. His name has been inscribed in several state primaries against the most conservative Senator Robert A. TAFT Ohio. Although the results were mixed, Eisenhower decided to run. In June 1952, General Five Stars retired from the army after 37 years of service, returned to UNITED STATESAnd started to campaign actively.

THE Republican National Convention was held in ChicagoJuly 7-11. After a bitter fight with TAFT supporters, Eisenhower won the appointment on the first ballot. Eisenhower has selected as Sen’s running mate. Richard M. Nixon of California, who had strong anti -communist diplomas. Among the promises of the Republicans had to end the War of Korea and to support the TAFT-HARTLEY actwhich has restricted the activities of the unions.

Democrats held their convention in Chicago two weeks later. THE National Democratic Convention was marked by disarray, in particular between the delegates who argued civil rights (largely northern states) and those opposed (mainly southern states). A requirement has been adopted according to which the delegations undertake to support the possible candidate and the party platform. A number of candidates have competed for the appointment, including Senator Estes Kefauver de Tennessee and Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. Adlai E. Stevenson, the governor of Illinois, had refused to request the appointment, but he was drafted by the Convention as a choice of compromise and was appointed to the third ballot. He chose a southerner, the senator, the senator as a package John Sparkman of Alabama. Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats have undertaken to repeal the Taft-Hartley law and called for the pursuit of the policies exercised by Truman and his predecessor as president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was also support for the pursuit of the Korean War.

General election campaign

Attempts to organize the potential supporters of MacArthur failed to assure him recognition. Although workers on behalf of formal organization In seven states (Missouri, Arkansas, Texas,, North DakotaWashington, California and Tennessee) under various designations (including America first, the Christian nationalist and the Constitution) and although we expected that the votes were “written” in 13 states, the result proved that such support from MacArthur had no effect on the result of the final elections in a state.

The election was carried out in the context of a “Red crash“In which many Americans feared that foreign communist agents are trying to infiltrate the government. Two years earlier the senator. Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, who judged that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations amounted to “20 years of betrayal,” said that he had a list of State department employees who were only faithful to Soviet Union. Although McCarthy did not propose any evidence in support of his charges and revealed only one name, he won a large personal part. Red fear, the war of impartial Korea and a renewal of inflation have seriously handicapped Stevenson, who fought a vigorous campaign.

Eisenhower, despite his age (61), campaigned tirelessly, impressive millions of people with his warmth and sincerity. His broad friendly smile, his heroic in wartime and his middle class of the middle class – he was a eager The golfer and the bridge player and a fan not of Highbrow but from the American West – gave him to the public and obtained him a large support. Granny EisenhowerLike her husband, projected an earth-to-earth image.

One of the most dramatic incidents in the campaign was associated with Nixon. THE New York Post reported that Nixon had a secret “melting snow”. Eisenhower was willing to give Nixon a chance to get out but stressed that Nixon had to emerge from the crisis “as clean as a dog’s tooth”. On September 23, 1952, Nixon went on television and delivered what was nicknamed the “Verifiers“Speech, in which he recognized the existence of the fund, but denied that everything that had been badly used. The speech is perhaps best known for its tearful Conclusion, in which Nixon admitted to having accepted a political donation – a cocker That her six -year -old daughter, Tricia, had appointed Checkers. “No matter what they say,” he said, “we’re going to keep it.” Although Nixon initially thought that the speech had been a failure, the public responded favorably, and a reassured eisenhower said to him: “You are my boy.”

On the eve of the elections, there was a general opinion that the presidential race was close. The final scoringHowever, was anything but. Eisenhower won more than six million votes, capturing 39 states and 442 electoral votes for the 9 states of Stevenson and 89 electoral votes. Eisenhower even won Florida, Texas and Virginia – three democratic states reliably. The election was considered a great personal triumph for Eisenhower and a repudiation of the Truman administration.

For the results of previous elections, see Presidential election of the United States of 1948. For the results of the following election, see Presidential election of the United States of 1956.

1952 elections results

The results of the 1952 American presidential election were provided in the table.