1956 United States presidential election in New Hampshire

Summary

The 1956 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1956 United States presidential election in New Hampshire

← 1952 November 6, 1956 1960 →
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[1][2] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 176,519 90,364
Percentage 66.11% 33.84%

County Results
Eisenhower
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%


President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

New Hampshire was won by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania and his running mate incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California. Eisenhower and Nixon defeated the Democratic nominees, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois and his running mate Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.

Eisenhower took 66.11% of the vote to Stevenson's 33.84%, a margin of 32.27%. Eisenhower, a war hero and moderate Republican who had pledged to maintain popular New Deal Democratic policies, had wide appeal beyond the boundaries of the traditional Republican coalition. New Hampshire had been narrowly carried by Democrat Franklin Roosevelt 3 out of 4 times, although the state narrowly reverted to the GOP in 1948. However Eisenhower's unique personal appeal brought the state decisively back into the Republican column in both 1952 and 1956,

Eisenhower in 1956 swept every county in New Hampshire, the first Republican to do so since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. Since Franklin Roosevelt won them in 1932, the counties of Hillsborough County, Strafford County, and Coos County had become reliable New Deal Democratic base counties, voting for Roosevelt all four times as well as for Harry S. Truman. Eisenhower had won back Strafford County and Coos County for the GOP in 1952, however, he had lost Hillsborough County, home to Manchester and Nashua, which had been a reliable Democratic bastion since voting for Democrat Al Smith in 1928. However, in 1956, Eisenhower won a majority even in Hillsborough County.

Carroll County had long been the most Republican county in New Hampshire, voting 60% against FDR all four times and over 70% for Thomas E. Dewey in 1948, and would give Eisenhower over 80% of vote in both 1952 and 1956. Eisenhower's 85.38% performance here in 1956 is the strongest performance ever by any candidate in any of New Hampshire's counties, and the only time any candidate has won over 85% in any New Hampshire county. As Eisenhower won a decisive re-election victory nationally, New Hampshire's results would make the state almost 17% more Republican than the national average, the third most Republican state in the nation behind its Upper New England neighbors Vermont and Maine,[3] a substantial jump from being only the twelfth most Republican state in 1952. The popular incumbent had governed in a very moderate way that appealed to New England voters, and was able to gain dramatically among voters in states like New Hampshire compared to 1952.

Results edit

1956 United States presidential election in New Hampshire[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (inc.) 176,519 66.11% 4
Democratic Adlai Stevenson 90,364 33.84% 0
No Party Listed T. Coleman Andrews 111 0.04% 0
Totals 266,994 100.00% 4

Results by county edit

County Dwight David Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson II
Democratic
Thomas Coleman Andrews
No Party Listed
Margin Total votes cast[5]
# % # % # % # %
Belknap 9,902 75.95% 3,131 24.01% 5 0.04% 6,771 51.94% 13,038
Carroll 7,527 85.38% 1,281 14.53% 8 0.09% 6,246 70.85% 8,816
Cheshire 12,585 69.26% 5,574 30.68% 11 0.06% 7,011 38.58% 18,170
Coös 11,465 66.13% 5,871 33.86% 2 0.01% 5,594 32.27% 17,338
Grafton 15,609 74.04% 5,466 25.93% 6 0.03% 10,143 48.11% 21,081
Hillsborough 45,248 55.50% 36,234 44.44% 46 0.06% 9,014 11.06% 81,528
Merrimack 22,060 71.68% 8,711 28.31% 3 0.01% 13,349 43.37% 30,774
Rockingham 28,226 73.42% 10,198 26.53% 18 0.05% 18,028 46.89% 38,442
Strafford 15,494 61.58% 9,659 38.39% 7 0.03% 5,835 23.19% 25,160
Sullivan 8,403 66.44% 4,239 33.52% 5 0.04% 4,164 32.92% 12,647
Totals 176,519 66.11% 90,364 33.84% 111 0.04% 86,155 32.27% 266,994

See also edit

References edit

  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. ^ "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  3. ^ "1956 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "1956 Presidential General Election Results - New Hampshire". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 295 ISBN 0405077114