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1956 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

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Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson Party Republican Democratic Home state Pennsylvania Illinois Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver Electoral vote 12 0 Popular vote 954,844 586,768 Percentage 61.58% 37.84%

County Results Eisenhower   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Stevenson   50-60%

President before election Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican

Elections in Wisconsin
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The 1956 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 6, 1956 as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Politics in Wisconsin since the Populist movement had been dominated by the Republican Party. The Democratic Party became uncompetitive away from the Lake Michigan coast as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies. Although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP, Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction. This ultimately would develop into the Wisconsin Progressive Party in the late 1930s, which was opposed to the conservative German Democrats and to the national Republican Party, and allied with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the federal level.

During the two wartime elections, the formerly Democratic German counties in the east of the state – which had been powerfully opposed to the Civil War because they saw it as a "Yankee" war and opposed the military draft instituted during it – viewed Communism as a much greater threat to America than Nazism and consequently opposed President Roosevelt's war effort. Consequently, these historically Democratic counties became virtually the most Republican in the entire state, and became a major support base for populist conservative Senator Joe McCarthy, who became notorious for his investigations into Communists inside the American government. The state's populace's opposition to Communism and the Korean War turned Wisconsin strongly to Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.

For the 1956 rematch, Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II began by campaigning against Eisenhower's handling of farm problems, at a time when most of the interior United States was suffering from a severe drought. The Democrat would then attack Eisenhower as a "weak" President when the two were touring the Midwest during September.

Early polls showed Eisenhower leading the state despite farm unrest, owing to the unpopularity of Stevenson. No later poll was taken, but evidence was that state's farmers were not trending to Stevenson at all, and that the Suez Crisis would hurt rather than help Stevenson.

Polls

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Kenosha

Analysis

As it turned out, despite the doubts of the Boston Daily Globe Eisenhower slightly improved upon his 1952 margin in Wisconsin: although he did lose some support in the farming areas, he gained upon his 1952 vote in Wisconsin's cities due to increased Catholic support, and carried all but two northern counties. Wisconsin’s result was 8.34% more Republican than the nation-at-large. As of 2020, this remains the last time a Republican has carried Wisconsin by double digits, as the state would trend Democratic beginning with the 1958 midterm elections, although Democrats have subsequently won Wisconsin by double digits just three times – Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, Bill Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2008. This is also the last election as of 2020 in which Ashland County, Dane County, Milwaukee County, and Portage County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.

Electors

These were the names of the electors on each ticket.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes

1. Although he was born in Texas and grew up in Kansas before his military career, at the time of the 1952 election Eisenhower was president of Columbia University and was, officially, a resident of New York. During his first term as president, he moved his private residence to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and officially changed his residency to Pennsylvania.
2. "Independent Better Government under the Constitution"
3. "Independent Socialist"
4. "Independent Socialist Labor"
5. "Independent Socialist Workers"
6. There were only 11 named electors on the Democratic ticket in Wisconsin

References

1. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
2. Burnham, Walter Dean (December 23, 1981). "The System of 1896: An Analysis". The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0313213798.
3. Sundquist, James (December 2010). Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. Brookings Institution Press. p. 526. ISBN 978-0815719090.
4. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo, Hirano; Snyder jr, James M. (February 27, 2017). "Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980". In Gerber, Alan S.; Schickler, Eric (eds.). Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–168. ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0.
5. Phillips, Kevin P. (November 23, 2014). The Emerging Republican Majority. Princeton University Press. pp. 381–382, 414. ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6.
6. Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 387-388
7. Blair, William M. (August 30, 1956). "Stevenson Asserts G.O.P. Fosters Farm Depression: Broken Promises Charged Stevenson Urges Action Stevenson Accuses Republicans of Fostering a Farm Depression — 3 States Are Pivotal". The New York Times. p. 1.
8. Salisbury, Harrison E. (September 27, 1956). "Stevenson Says Eisenhower Fails to Lead Country: In Kansas City, He Asserts the Question Is, "Who's in Charge Here?" Decries Farm Policy: Nominee Charges That the President Defaulted on 90% Parity Pledgeedition=Special to The New York Times". The New York Times. p. 1.
9. White, William S. (October 1, 1956). "G.O.P. Retaining Wisconsin Lead; Democrats Gain: Survey Shows Farm Unrest and Spotty Unemployment Are Having Influence". The New York Times (Special to The New York Times ed.). p. 1.
10. King, Seth H. (November 1, 1956). "Major Farm Vote Still Republican: Democrats Fail to Stir Big Revolt – May Lose Votes on Crisis in Mideast". The New York Times. p. 44.
11. Cornell, Douglas B. (October 23, 1956). "But Smaller Margin Seen: "Old Faithful" Wisconsin Expected To Go GOP Again". The Boston Daily Globe. p. 26.
12. "Final Babson Poll Shows Eisenhower Winning Easily". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. CTS. November 2, 1956. p. 22.
13. Trohan, Walter (November 3, 1956). "Hour of Decision Near: Eisenhower Lead Increasing Daily". Corpus Christi Times. Chicago Tribune Service. p. 4.
14. "What the Polls Show — Eisenhower Victory Is Indicated across Nation". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 4, 1956. pp. B 1, B 3.
15. Lawrence, W.H. (November 4, 1956). ""Times Team" Counts Up 20-State GOP Margin". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. A 11.
16. ^ Wisconsin Historical Society, Statement of Board of State Canvassers for President, Vice President and Presidential Electors - General Election - 1956
17. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. "Vote For President And Vice President By Counties". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1958. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 766.
18. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Wisconsin". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
19. Sullivan, Robert David (June 29, 2016). "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century". The National Catholic Review (America Magazine ed.).

v t e State and district results of the 1956 United States presidential election
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• 1956 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin
• 1956 Wisconsin elections