For six decades up to 1950 South Carolina had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession.[4] Between 1900 and 1948, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote[5] – a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age population[6] (or approximately 15 percent of the voting-age white population).
This absolute loyalty began to break down during World War II when Vice-Presidents Henry A. Wallace and Harry Truman began to realize that a legacy of discrimination against blacks was a threat to the United States' image abroad and its ability to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism.[7] In the 1948 presidential election, Truman was backed by only 24 percent of South Carolina's limited electorate – most of that from the relatively few upcountrypoor whites able to meet rigorous voting requirements – and state Governor Strom Thurmond won 71 percent, carrying every county except Anderson and Spartanburg. Despite Truman announcing as early as May 1950 that he would not run again for President in 1952,[8] it had already become clear that South Carolina's rulers remained severely disenchanted with the national Democratic Party.[9] Both Thurmond and former Governor James F. Byrnes would endorse national Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower[10] – who ran under an independent label in South Carolina – and Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II only won narrowly due to two- and three-to-one majorities in the poor white counties that had given substantial opposition to Thurmond in 1948.[11]
During the first Eisenhower term, South Carolina’s whites who had supported him became extremely critical because Eisenhower was blamed for Brown v. Board of Education, whose requirement of desegregating the state’s schools was intolerable. Consequently, state leaders like Thurmond argued that the GOP could not be a useful tool for opposing civil rights, and most of the state’s Democrats endorsed Stevenson for his rematch with Eisenhower.[12] Byrnes, however, obtained 35,000 petitions for an alternative slate of unpledged electors, whom he naturally endorsed when ballot access was obtained for that slate.[13]
In mid-October, the consensus among pollsters was that the state’s vote would be sharply split between the three slates,[14] although polls just before election day suggested that Stevenson was likely to carry the state.[15]
Ultimately South Carolina was won by Adlai Stevenson II (D–Illinois), running with Tennessee SenatorEstes Kefauver by a more decisive margin than polls predicted.[17] Stevenson gained 45.37 percent of the popular vote thanks to his continued dominance of the upcountry, whilst Eisenhower and the unpledged slate divided the lowcountry vote, with the unpledged slate finishing second with 29.45 percent and Eisenhower – this time running under the “Republican” banner – with 25.18 percent[18] Wealthier whites left Eisenhower for the unpledged slate in large numbers, but unlike in 1952 when the small number of black voters strongly supported Stevenson, Eisenhower gained substantial, even majority, support from blacks able to vote in Charleston and Columbia.[12]
The 1956 election in South Carolina marks the second of only three times in the 20th century that an incumbent president has finished third in any state.[e] As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last time that a Republican has been elected president without carrying South Carolina, and the last time that Greenville County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. It is also the last time that Lexington County was not carried by the Republican candidate.[19]
Notesedit
^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.
^Because the unpledged elector slate finished ahead of Eisenhower in South Carolina as a whole, unless noted otherwise margin given is Stevenson vote minus unpledged vote and percentage margin Stevenson percent minus unpledged slate percentage.
^ abcdefghijklmIn this county where Eisenhower did run ahead of the unpledged slate, margin given is Stevenson vote minus Eisenhower vote and percentage margin Stevenson percentage minus Eisenhower percentage.
^ abcdefgIn this county where Stevenson ran third behind both Eisenhower and the unpledged slate, margin given is Eisenhower vote minus unpledged vote and percentage margin Eisenhower percentage minus unpledged slate percentage.
^The other cases are William Howard Taft, who finished third overall in 1912, and George H. W. Bush, who finished third in Maine in 1992. Harry S. Truman in 1948 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, however, were not even on the ballot in Alabama due to intractable opposition to those presidents’ civil rights policies by Alabama’s ruling politicians.
Referencesedit
^"United States Presidential election of 1956 – Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
^"The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
^"1956 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65)". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
^Phillips, Kevin P. The Emerging Republican Majority. pp. 208, 210. ISBN9780691163246.
^Mickey, Robert (2015). Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972. p. 440. ISBN0691149631.
^Fredericksen, Karl A. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South. p. 52. ISBN0807849103.
^Truman, Harry S. President Harry S. Truman’s Office Files, 1945-1953. p. 30. ISBN1556551533.
^Bedingfield, Sid (2014). Beating Down the Fear: The Civil Sphere and Political Change in South Carolina, 1940-1962 (Thesis). University of South Carolina Dissertations. p. 139. Docket 2793.
^Mayer, Michael S. The Eisenhower Years. p. 767. ISBN1438119089.
^See "Association with Youth Can Furnish New Confidence in future of America". Florence Morning News. October 17, 1956. p. 4.
^"Southern Negroes Seen Casting Heaviest Vote Since Reconstruction Days". Tampa Tribune. November 6, 1956. p. 9.
^Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 397 ISBN0405077114
^"The American Presidency Project – Election of 1956". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
^"1956 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina". Retrieved June 10, 2017.
^Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
February 16, 2024
1956, united, states, presidential, election, south, carolina, main, article, 1956, united, states, presidential, election, took, place, november, 1956, part, 1956, united, states, presidential, election, south, carolina, voters, chose, eight, representatives,. Main article 1956 United States presidential election The 1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6 1956 as part of the 1956 United States presidential election South Carolina voters chose eight 3 representatives or electors to the Electoral College who voted for president and vice president 1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina 1952 November 6 1956 1 1960 All 8 South Carolina votes to the Electoral College Nominee Adlai Stevenson Unpledged electors Dwight D EisenhowerParty Democratic Nominated by Petition RepublicanHome state Illinois Pennsylvania a 2 Running mate Estes Kefauver Richard NixonElectoral vote 8 0 0Popular vote 136 372 88 509 75 700Percentage 45 37 29 45 25 18 County Results Stevenson 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 Unpledged 30 40 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 Eisenhower 30 40 50 60 President before electionDwight D EisenhowerRepublican Elected President Dwight D EisenhowerRepublicanFor six decades up to 1950 South Carolina had been a one party state dominated by the Democratic Party The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as South Carolina completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession 4 Between 1900 and 1948 no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote 5 a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6 6 percent of the total voting age population 6 or approximately 15 percent of the voting age white population This absolute loyalty began to break down during World War II when Vice Presidents Henry A Wallace and Harry Truman began to realize that a legacy of discrimination against blacks was a threat to the United States image abroad and its ability to win the Cold War against the radically egalitarian rhetoric of Communism 7 In the 1948 presidential election Truman was backed by only 24 percent of South Carolina s limited electorate most of that from the relatively few upcountry poor whites able to meet rigorous voting requirements and state Governor Strom Thurmond won 71 percent carrying every county except Anderson and Spartanburg Despite Truman announcing as early as May 1950 that he would not run again for President in 1952 8 it had already become clear that South Carolina s rulers remained severely disenchanted with the national Democratic Party 9 Both Thurmond and former Governor James F Byrnes would endorse national Republican nominee Dwight D Eisenhower 10 who ran under an independent label in South Carolina and Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II only won narrowly due to two and three to one majorities in the poor white counties that had given substantial opposition to Thurmond in 1948 11 During the first Eisenhower term South Carolina s whites who had supported him became extremely critical because Eisenhower was blamed for Brown v Board of Education whose requirement of desegregating the state s schools was intolerable Consequently state leaders like Thurmond argued that the GOP could not be a useful tool for opposing civil rights and most of the state s Democrats endorsed Stevenson for his rematch with Eisenhower 12 Byrnes however obtained 35 000 petitions for an alternative slate of unpledged electors whom he naturally endorsed when ballot access was obtained for that slate 13 In mid October the consensus among pollsters was that the state s vote would be sharply split between the three slates 14 although polls just before election day suggested that Stevenson was likely to carry the state 15 Contents 1 Results 1 1 Results by county 2 Analysis 3 Notes 4 ReferencesResults edit1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina Party Candidate Votes Democratic Adlai Stevenson 136 372 45 37 Nominated by Petition Unpledged electors 88 509 29 45 Republican Dwight D Eisenhower inc 75 700 25 18 Write in 2 0 00 Total votes 300 583 100 Results by county edit 1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina by county 16 County Adlai Stevenson IIDemocratic Dwight David EisenhowerRepublican Unpledged Electors Nominated by Petition Margin b Total votes cast Abbeville 2 985 83 36 339 9 47 257 7 18 2 646 c 73 89 3 581Aiken 4 280 34 81 6 195 50 38 1 821 14 81 1 915 c 15 57 12 296Allendale 380 28 85 262 19 89 675 51 25 295 22 40 1 317Anderson 11 344 76 80 2 186 14 80 1 241 8 40 9 158 c 62 00 14 771Bamberg 430 22 95 326 17 40 1 118 59 66 688 36 71 1 874Barnwell 1 914 63 61 520 17 28 575 19 11 1 339 44 50 3 009Beaufort 710 25 57 1 051 37 85 1 016 36 59 35 d 1 26 2 777Berkeley 902 24 14 1 055 28 24 1 779 47 62 724 d 19 38 3 736Calhoun 341 28 90 146 12 37 693 58 73 352 29 83 1 180Charleston 4 028 16 07 7 487 29 86 13 558 54 07 6 071 d 24 21 25 073Cherokee 3 687 75 21 907 18 50 308 6 28 2 780 c 56 71 4 902Chester 2 951 62 80 1 007 21 43 741 15 77 1 944 c 41 37 4 699Chesterfield 3 559 71 35 795 15 94 634 12 71 2 764 c 55 41 4 988Clarendon 661 24 74 224 8 38 1 787 66 88 1 126 42 14 2 672Colleton 1 463 36 14 635 15 69 1 950 48 17 487 12 03 4 048Darlington 2 908 40 91 1 597 22 47 2 603 36 62 305 4 29 7 108Dillon 1 879 62 97 313 10 49 792 26 54 1 087 36 43 2 984Dorchester 862 26 80 504 15 67 1 851 57 54 989 30 74 3 217Edgefield 525 25 71 516 25 27 1 001 49 02 476 23 31 2 042Fairfield 961 36 29 519 19 60 1 168 44 11 207 7 82 2 648Florence 3 463 35 46 1 855 19 00 4 447 45 54 984 10 08 9 765Georgetown 1 020 23 39 1 057 24 24 2 284 52 37 1 227 d 28 13 4 361Greenville 11 819 43 46 10 752 39 54 4 622 17 00 1 067 c 3 92 27 193Greenwood 4 386 64 95 1 120 16 59 1 247 18 47 3 139 46 48 6 753Hampton 564 27 43 359 17 46 1 133 55 11 569 27 68 2 056Horry 4 835 59 17 1 092 13 36 2 244 27 46 2 591 31 71 8 171Jasper 210 16 52 403 31 71 658 51 77 255 d 20 06 1 271Kershaw 1 875 34 79 1 518 28 17 1 996 37 04 121 2 25 5 389Lancaster 4 398 66 26 1 610 24 26 629 9 48 2 788 c 42 00 6 637Laurens 3 726 56 05 1 377 20 71 1 545 23 24 2 181 32 81 6 648Lee 943 38 26 250 10 14 1 272 51 60 329 13 34 2 465Lexington 2 094 36 50 1 188 20 71 2 455 42 79 361 6 29 5 737Marion 1 390 43 99 417 13 20 1 353 42 82 37 1 17 3 160Marlboro 1 769 63 22 507 18 12 522 18 66 1 247 44 56 2 798McCormick 485 55 81 102 11 74 282 32 45 203 23 36 869Newberry 2 671 52 07 1 061 20 68 1 398 27 25 1 273 24 82 5 130Oconee 3 510 73 17 911 18 99 376 7 84 2 599 c 54 18 4 797Orangeburg 2 511 36 28 1 467 21 20 2 943 42 52 432 6 24 6 921Pickens 1 847 43 17 1 747 40 84 684 15 99 100 c 2 33 4 278Richland 6 154 27 49 6 714 29 99 9 516 42 51 2 802 d 12 52 22 384Saluda 1 080 47 24 341 14 92 865 37 84 215 9 40 2 286Spartanburg 16 637 65 03 6 822 26 67 2 124 8 30 9 815 c 38 36 25 583Sumter 937 15 53 1 356 22 47 3 741 62 00 2 385 d 39 53 6 034Union 3 760 66 10 1 252 22 01 676 11 88 2 508 c 44 09 5 688Williamsburg 683 18 20 330 8 80 2 739 73 00 2 056 54 80 3 752York 6 835 59 25 3 508 30 41 1 192 10 33 3 327 c 28 84 11 535Totals 136 372 45 37 75 700 25 18 88 511 29 45 47 861 15 92 300 583Analysis editUltimately South Carolina was won by Adlai Stevenson II D Illinois running with Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver by a more decisive margin than polls predicted 17 Stevenson gained 45 37 percent of the popular vote thanks to his continued dominance of the upcountry whilst Eisenhower and the unpledged slate divided the lowcountry vote with the unpledged slate finishing second with 29 45 percent and Eisenhower this time running under the Republican banner with 25 18 percent 18 Wealthier whites left Eisenhower for the unpledged slate in large numbers but unlike in 1952 when the small number of black voters strongly supported Stevenson Eisenhower gained substantial even majority support from blacks able to vote in Charleston and Columbia 12 The 1956 election in South Carolina marks the second of only three times in the 20th century that an incumbent president has finished third in any state e As of the 2020 presidential election update this is the last time that a Republican has been elected president without carrying South Carolina and the last time that Greenville County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate It is also the last time that Lexington County was not carried by the Republican candidate 19 Notes edit 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 Because the unpledged elector slate finished ahead of Eisenhower in South Carolina as a whole unless noted otherwise margin given is Stevenson vote minus unpledged vote and percentage margin Stevenson percent minus unpledged slate percentage a b c d e f g h i j k l m In this county where Eisenhower did run ahead of the unpledged slate margin given is Stevenson vote minus Eisenhower vote and percentage margin Stevenson percentage minus Eisenhower percentage a b c d e f g In this county where Stevenson ran third behind both Eisenhower and the unpledged slate margin given is Eisenhower vote minus unpledged vote and percentage margin Eisenhower percentage minus unpledged slate percentage The other cases are William Howard Taft who finished third overall in 1912 and George H W Bush who finished third in Maine in 1992 Harry S Truman in 1948 and Lyndon B Johnson in 1964 however were not even on the ballot in Alabama due to intractable opposition to those presidents civil rights policies by Alabama s ruling politicians References edit United States Presidential election of 1956 Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved June 10 2017 The Presidents David Leip Retrieved September 27 2017 Eisenhower s home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania 1956 Election for the Forty Fourth Term 1961 65 Retrieved June 10 2017 Phillips Kevin P The Emerging Republican Majority pp 208 210 ISBN 9780691163246 Mickey Robert 2015 Paths Out of Dixie The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America s Deep South 1944 1972 p 440 ISBN 0691149631 Mickey Paths Out of Dixie p 27 Fredericksen Karl A The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South p 52 ISBN 0807849103 Truman Harry S President Harry S Truman s Office Files 1945 1953 p 30 ISBN 1556551533 Bedingfield Sid 2014 Beating Down the Fear The Civil Sphere and Political Change in South Carolina 1940 1962 Thesis University of South Carolina Dissertations p 139 Docket 2793 Mayer Michael S The Eisenhower Years p 767 ISBN 1438119089 Strong Donald S August 1955 The Presidential Election in the South 1952 The Journal of Politics University of Chicago Press 17 3 343 389 a b Mickey Paths Out of Dixie p 233 South Carolina Democratic Party Split The Decatur Daily Review September 12 1956 p 6 See Association with Youth Can Furnish New Confidence in future of America Florence Morning News October 17 1956 p 4 Southern Negroes Seen Casting Heaviest Vote Since Reconstruction Days Tampa Tribune November 6 1956 p 9 Scammon Richard M compiler America at the Polls A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920 1964 p 397 ISBN 0405077114 The American Presidency Project Election of 1956 Retrieved June 10 2017 1956 Presidential General Election Results South Carolina Retrieved June 10 2017 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 South Carolina amp oldid 1198882830, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
