Wikipedia

1956 United States presidential election in Alabama

Main article: 1956 United States presidential election

The 1956 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. Alabama voters chose eleven[3] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states.

1956 United States presidential election in Alabama
← 1952 November 6, 1956[1] 1960 →
 
Nominee Adlai Stevenson Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Pennsylvania[2][b]
Running mate Estes Kefauver Richard Nixon
Electoral vote 10[a] 0
Popular vote 280,844 195,694
Percentage 56.52% 39.39%
County results
President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Since the 1890s, Alabama had been effectively a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Disenfranchisement of almost all African-Americans and a large proportion of poor whites via poll taxes, literacy tests[4] and informal harassment had essentially eliminated opposition parties outside of Unionist Winston County and presidential campaigns in a few nearby northern hill counties. The only competitive statewide elections during this period were thus Democratic Party primaries — limited to white voters until the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright, following which Alabama introduced the Boswell Amendment — ruled unconstitutional in Davis v. Schnell in 1949,[5] although substantial increases in black voter registration would not occur until after the late 1960s Voting Rights Act.

Unlike other Deep South states, the state GOP would after disenfranchisement rapidly and permanently turn “lily-white”, with the last black delegates at any Republican National Convention serving in 1920.[6] Nevertheless, Republicans only briefly gained from their hard lily-white policy by exceeding forty percent in three 1920 House of Representatives races,[7] and in the 1928 presidential election when Senator James Thomas Heflin embarked on a nationwide speaking tour, partially funded by the Ku Klux Klan, against Roman Catholic Democratic nominee Al Smith,[8] so that Republican Herbert Hoover lost by only seven thousand votes.

Following Smith, Alabama’s loyalty to the national Democratic Party would be broken when Harry S. Truman, seeking a strategy to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism,[9] launched the first Civil Rights bill since Reconstruction. Southern Democrats became enraged and for the 1948 presidential election, Alabama’s Democratic presidential elector primary chose electors who were pledged to not vote for incumbent President Truman.[10] Truman was entirely excluded from the Alabama ballot,[11] and Alabama’s electoral votes went to Strom Thurmond — labelled as the “Democratic” nominee — by a margin only slightly smaller than Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four victories. Despite this, in 1950 loyalists regained control of the ruling party and few would support Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.[12]

In the four ensuing years, Alabama’s ruling elite was jolted by the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which ruled unconstitutional the de jure segregated school system in the South. The state attempted to use the doctrine of “interposition” to place its sovereignty above the Court and maintain de jure segregation, although incumbent Governor Jim Folsom viewed the idea as futile[13] despite signing the statutes.[14] The state would also be affected by the Montgomery bus boycott, and as a result an independent elector slate, not pledged to any candidate, would be nominated.[15]

Polls

edit
Source Ranking As of
The Philadelphia Inquirer[16] Safe D October 26, 1956
The Sunday Star[17] Safe D October 28, 1956
The Birmingham News[18] Likely D November 4, 1956
Chattanooga Daily Times[19] Likely D November 4, 1956

Results

edit
General election results[20]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Jasse Brown 280,844
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II J. E. Brantley 280,549
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II H. Tom Cochran 280,366
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II William M. Kelly, Jr. 280,159
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Lawrence E. McNeil 279,999
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Ben F. Ray 279,878
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Wilma K. Butts 279,811
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Henry H. Sweet 279,774
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II Wesley Winchell Acee, Jr. 279,542
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II[c] W. F. Turner 279,484
Democratic Party Adlai Stevenson II H. Floyd Sherrod 279,398
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) William H. Albritton 195,694
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Herman E. Dean, Jr. 195,200
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Charles H. Chapman, Jr. 195,175
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Robert M. Guthrie 195,012
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Neil Morgan 194,991
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) W. M. Russell 194,898
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) George Stiefelmeyer 194,708
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) I. L. Smith, Jr. 194,699
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) R. S. Cartledge 194,687
Republican Party Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) Thomas G. McNaron 194,629
Republican Party (i Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) George Witcher 194,014
Independent Unpledged Thomas Bellsnyder, Jr. 20,323
Independent Unpledged Russell Carter 20,279
Independent Unpledged Tom C. King 20,271
Independent Unpledged M. L. Griffin 20,210
Independent Unpledged Jack S. Riley 20,149
Independent Unpledged Edwin T. Parker 20,112
Independent Unpledged J. S. Payne 20,111
Independent Unpledged John Frederick Duggar, III 20,082
Independent Unpledged Joseph S. Mead 20,081
Independent Unpledged John C. Eagerton, III 20,027
Independent Unpledged Llewellyn Duggar 19,971
Write-in Ace Carter 8
Write-in Jim Sherrill 2
Total votes 496,871

Results by county

edit
County Adlai Stevenson
Democratic 		Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican 		Unpledged electors
Independent 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Autauga 1,161 50.77% 857 37.47% 269 11.76% 304 13.30% 2,287
Baldwin 3,878 46.08% 4,293 51.02% 244 2.90% -415 -4.94% 8,415
Barbour 2,530 73.35% 777 22.53% 142 4.12% 1,753 50.82% 3,449
Bibb 1,471 56.97% 1,004 38.88% 107 4.14% 467 18.09% 2,582
Blount 3,208 54.17% 2,628 44.38% 86 1.45% 580 9.79% 5,922
Bullock 812 64.86% 304 24.28% 136 10.86% 508 40.58% 1,252
Butler 1,958 55.42% 1,324 37.48% 251 7.10% 634 17.94% 3,533
Calhoun 9,069 65.24% 4,473 32.18% 358 2.58% 4,596 33.06% 13,900
Chambers 5,165 76.67% 1,448 21.49% 124 1.84% 3,717 55.18% 6,737
Cherokee 2,661 75.75% 845 24.05% 7 0.20% 1,816 51.70% 3,513
Chilton 1,891 36.73% 3,139 60.98% 118 2.29% -1,248 -24.25% 5,148
Choctaw 1,250 70.26% 457 25.69% 72 4.05% 793 44.57% 1,779
Clarke 1,962 57.91% 1,246 36.78% 180 5.31% 716 21.13% 3,388
Clay 1,677 50.47% 1,597 48.06% 49 1.47% 80 2.41% 3,323
Cleburne 1,407 56.96% 1,056 42.75% 7 0.28% 351 14.21% 2,470
Coffee 4,163 79.02% 973 18.47% 132 2.51% 3,190 60.55% 5,268
Colbert 7,007 78.40% 1,819 20.35% 111 1.24% 5,188 58.05% 8,937
Conecuh 1,687 61.26% 885 32.14% 182 6.61% 802 29.12% 2,754
Coosa 1,411 56.01% 1,070 42.48% 38 1.51% 341 13.53% 2,519
Covington 4,887 65.25% 2,257 30.13% 346 4.62% 2,630 35.12% 7,490
Crenshaw 2,252 75.70% 567 19.06% 156 5.24% 1,685 56.64% 2,975
Cullman 5,510 55.49% 4,381 44.12% 38 0.38% 1,129 11.37% 9,929
Dale 2,318 62.45% 1,284 34.59% 110 2.96% 1,034 27.86% 3,712
Dallas 2,121 39.59% 2,324 43.37% 913 17.04% -203 -3.78% 5,358
DeKalb 5,768 50.30% 5,684 49.56% 16 0.14% 84 0.74% 11,468
Elmore 3,353 62.16% 1,619 30.01% 422 7.82% 1,734 32.15% 5,394
Escambia 3,437 64.86% 1,529 28.85% 333 6.28% 1,908 36.01% 5,299
Etowah 12,374 62.22% 7,198 36.20% 314 1.58% 5,176 26.02% 19,886
Fayette 1,956 49.80% 1,948 49.59% 24 0.61% 8 0.21% 3,928
Franklin 3,354 49.55% 3,399 50.21% 16 0.24% -45 -0.66% 6,769
Geneva 2,841 68.99% 1,179 28.63% 98 2.38% 1,662 40.36% 4,118
Greene 691 66.19% 309 29.60% 44 4.21% 382 36.59% 1,044
Hale 1,314 68.54% 504 26.29% 99 5.16% 810 42.25% 1,917
Henry 2,127 78.40% 429 15.81% 157 5.79% 1,698 62.59% 2,713
Houston 3,630 53.06% 2,632 38.47% 579 8.46% 998 14.59% 6,841
Jackson 4,758 71.58% 1,868 28.10% 21 0.32% 2,890 43.48% 6,647
Jefferson 38,604 44.11% 43,695 49.93% 5,214 5.96% -5,091 -5.82% 87,513
Lamar 2,501 73.58% 867 25.51% 31 0.91% 1,634 48.07% 3,399
Lauderdale 9,150 78.26% 2,458 21.02% 84 0.72% 6,692 57.24% 11,692
Lawrence 2,961 70.75% 1,197 28.60% 27 0.65% 1,764 42.15% 4,185
Lee 3,302 65.37% 1,586 31.40% 163 3.23% 1,716 33.97% 5,051
Limestone 4,145 87.26% 589 12.40% 16 0.34% 3,556 74.86% 4,750
Lowndes 623 52.27% 326 27.35% 243 20.39% 297 24.92% 1,192
Macon 1,024 46.69% 1,067 48.65% 102 4.65% -43 -1.96% 2,193
Madison 9,054 74.52% 2,993 24.63% 103 0.85% 6,061 49.89% 12,150
Marengo 1,858 60.88% 1,009 33.06% 185 6.06% 849 27.82% 3,052
Marion 2,849 52.67% 2,536 46.88% 24 0.44% 313 5.79% 5,409
Marshall 6,329 66.66% 3,071 32.34% 95 1.00% 3,258 34.32% 9,495
Mobile 17,163 43.41% 20,639 52.21% 1,732 4.38% -3,476 -8.80% 39,534
Monroe 2,069 69.95% 759 25.66% 130 4.39% 1,310 44.29% 2,958
Montgomery 6,890 36.57% 8,727 46.32% 3,224 17.11% -1,837 -9.75% 18,841
Morgan 7,671 70.56% 2,974 27.35% 227 2.09% 4,697 43.21% 10,872
Perry 974 53.75% 613 33.83% 225 12.42% 361 19.92% 1,812
Pickens 1,660 58.78% 993 35.16% 171 6.06% 667 23.62% 2,824
Pike 2,631 68.53% 997 25.97% 211 5.50% 1,634 42.56% 3,839
Randolph 3,151 66.18% 1,584 33.27% 26 0.55% 1,567 32.91% 4,761
Russell 3,060 68.32% 1,265 28.24% 154 3.44% 1,795 40.08% 4,479
Shelby 2,502 44.83% 2,901 51.98% 178 3.19% -399 -7.15% 5,581
St. Clair 2,420 48.64% 2,441 49.07% 114 2.29% -21 -0.43% 4,975
Sumter 981 58.71% 578 34.59% 112 6.70% 403 24.12% 1,671
Talladega 5,243 54.63% 4,197 43.73% 157 1.64% 1,046 10.90% 9,597
Tallapoosa 5,070 72.00% 1,879 26.68% 93 1.32% 3,191 45.32% 7,042
Tuscaloosa 8,186 59.33% 4,994 36.19% 618 4.48% 3,192 23.14% 13,798
Walker 7,661 59.30% 5,179 40.09% 79 0.61% 2,482 19.21% 12,919
Washington 1,705 66.37% 777 30.25% 87 3.39% 928 36.12% 2,569
Wilcox 778 52.78% 499 33.85% 197 13.36% 279 18.93% 1,474
Winston 1,570 34.35% 2,998 65.60% 2 0.04% -1,428 -31.25% 4,570
Totals 280,844 56.52% 195,694 39.39% 20,323 4.09% 85,150 17.13% 496,871

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

edit

Analysis

edit

As expected by the polls, Alabama voted for the Democratic nominees Adlai Stevenson II and running mate Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, with 56.52 percent of the popular vote against Republican–nominees incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon, with 39.39 percent. Eisenhower’s performance was nonetheless the second-best by a Republican in Alabama since 1884, when many blacks were still enfranchised, while Stevenson declined by eight percent compared to his 1952 performance. Eisenhower’s main gains were in upper- and middle-class urban areas, where wealthier whites aligned strongly with GOP economic policies.[21] The unpledged slate had little support and consequently did not make the impact it did in South Carolina, Mississippi or Louisiana, cracking twenty percent only in Lowndes County.

Stevenson received ten of Alabama’s eleven electoral votes; the eleventh was cast by a faithless elector for Walter B. Jones.[22][23]

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Macon County voted for a Republican nominee, and the only election since 1872 that this majority-black county has voted Republican.[d] It is also the last time that Houston County voted for a Democratic nominee,[24] and the last time that the state has supported a losing Democratic nominee or that a Republican won two terms without ever carrying the state.

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ A faithless elector cast their vote for Alabama judge Walter Burgwyn Jones and former Georgia governor Herman Talmadge as vice president.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Faithless elector W. F. Turner voted for Walter Burgwyn Jones and Herman Talmadge.
  4. ^ This county also voted Republican in the Reconstruction Era elections of 1868 and 1872.

References

edit
  1. ^ "United States Presidential election of 1956 — Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  3. ^ "1956 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65)". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  4. ^ Perman, Michael (2001). Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888–1908. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. Introduction.
  5. ^ Stanley, Harold Watkins (1987). Voter mobilization and the politics of race: the South and universal suffrage, 1952-1984. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 100. ISBN 0275926737.
  6. ^ Heersink, Boris; Jenkins, Jeffery A. (2020). Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. Cambridge University Press. pp. 251–253. ISBN 9781107158436.
  7. ^ Phillips, Kevin P. (1969). The Emerging Republican Majority. Arlington House. p. 255. ISBN 0870000586.
  8. ^ Chiles, Robert (2018). The Revolution of '28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal. Cornell University Press. p. 115. ISBN 9781501705502.
  9. ^ Geselbracht, Raymond H., ed. (2007). The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman. Truman State University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1931112673.
  10. ^ Jenkins, Ray (2012). Blind Vengeance: The Roy Moody Mail Bomb Murders. University of Georgia Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0820341019.
  11. ^ Key, V.O. junior; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 340 ISBN 087049435X
  12. ^ Perman, Michael (2009). Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South. University of North Carolina Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0807833247.
  13. ^ Weill, Susan (2002). In a madhouse's din: civil rights coverage by Mississippi's daily press, 1948-1968. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0275969606.
  14. ^ Rogers, Kim Lacy (1993). Righteous lives: narratives of the New Orleans civil rights movement. New York: New York University Press. p. 63. ISBN 0814774318.
  15. ^ Bartley, Numan V. (1976). Southern Politics and the Second Reconstruction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 87–91.
  16. ^ O‘Brien, John C. (October 27, 1956). ""Doubtful States" Seen for President by GOP". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 8.
  17. ^ Latimer, James (October 28, 1956). "Virginia". The Sunday Star. Washington, D.C. p. A-31.
  18. ^ Taylor, Fred (November 4, 1956). "On Tuesday's Vote — State Demos "Sure", Republicans "Hope"". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 1A, 4A.
  19. ^ Bartlett, Charles (November 4, 1956). "One Man's Guess: 384 Electoral Votes for Eisenhower". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. p. 21.
  20. ^ Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1963. Montgomery, Alabama: Walker Printing Co. 1963. pp. 607–610. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  21. ^ Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority pp. 221-222
  22. ^ "1956 Presidential General Election Results — Alabama". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  23. ^ "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1956". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  24. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1956_United_States_presidential_election_in_Alabama&oldid=1254276105"