1956 Democratic National Convention

As the unsuccessful 1952 Democratic Party presidential nominee, Stevenson had the highest stature of the active candidates. Despite a number of primary wins by Kefauver, Stevenson managed to pull back and win California and come into the convention with momentum. However Stevenson was widely seen as having between 400 and 600 of the 6871/2 delegates he needed to secure the nomination. ==Scheduling and logistics of convention==

The 1956 Democratic convention was held before that year's Republican National Convention. This was unusual, as since 1864, in every election but 1888, Democrats had held their convention second. It has become an informal tradition that the party holding the White House (which, accordingly, in 1956 had been the Republican Party) hosts their convention second, but it is unclear when this tradition began. Democrats had held the White House and held their conventions second between 1936 and 1952, but it is unclear whether they scheduled their conventions second in these years because of their White House incumbency, or whether they scheduled them second because it was traditional that Democratic National Conventions had been held after the Republican National Convention. This was the second election in which conventions were televised live coast-to-coast. Television had, by 1956, become the dominant medium of popular news coverage. To adjust to the medium of television, the convention was condensed in length compared to previous years, with daytime sessions being largely eliminated and the amount of welcoming speeches and parliamentary organization speeches being decreased (such as seconding speeches for vice-presidential candidates, which were eliminated). Sessions were also scheduled in order to maximize exposure to prime-time audience. ==The 1956 Democratic Platform==

With regard to the growing Civil Rights Movement, the platform called for voting rights, equal employment opportunities, and the desegregation of public schools. Relative to the Republicans, the Democrats favored greater reliance on the United Nations, multilateral disarmament, more spending for programs relating to social welfare and agriculture, "a full and integrated program of development, protection, management and conservation of natural resources," and the use of peaceful atomic energy. == Presidential nomination ==

Former President Harry S. Truman, whose support for Stevenson in 1952 helped secure him the nomination, in a surprise move decided to oppose to his renomination in 1956, instead favoring Harriman. This was seen as opening up the Presidential nomination, with a number of candidates coming forward. As well as Stevenson's 400 to 600 of the required 6871/2 delegates Although at first Johnson was not running more than a token campaign, he believed that Truman's announcement had opened the nomination up. Presidential candidates Image:Adlai Stevenson close-up.jpg|Former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois Image:William Averell Harriman.jpg|Governor W. Averell Harriman of New York Image:Senator Lyndon Johnson (1).jpg|Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas Image:Portrait of W. Stuart Symington 97-1844.jpg|Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri Image:Happy Chandler - Harris and Ewing Crop.jpg|Governor Happy Chandler of Kentucky Image:James C Davis.jpg|Representative James C. Davis of Georgia Image:John S. Battle (VA).png|Former Governor John S. Battle of Virginia Image:SC Gov. George Timmerman.jpg|Governor George Timmerman of South Carolina The roll call, as reported in Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, Convention Decisions and Voting Records, pp. 294–298: Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (August 16, 1956) File:1956DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|1st Presidential Ballot ==Vice presidential nomination==

The highlight of the 1956 Democratic Convention came when Stevenson, in an effort to create excitement for the ticket, made the surprise announcement that the convention's delegates would choose his running mate. Stevenson decided not to reselect his 1952 running mate John Sparkman. This set off a desperate scramble among several candidates to win the nomination. A good deal of the excitement of the vice-presidential race came from the fact that the candidates had only one hectic day to campaign among the delegates before the voting began. The two leading contenders were Senator Kefauver, who retained the support of his primary delegates, and John F. Kennedy, who, as a first term Senator from Massachusetts, was relatively unknown at that point. Kennedy surprised the experts by surging into the lead on the second ballot; at one point he was only 39 votes shy of winning. However, a number of states then left their "favorite son" candidates and switched to Kefauver, giving him the victory. Kennedy then gave a gracious concession speech. The narrow defeat raised his profile and helped Kennedy's long-term presidential chances; by losing to Kefauver he avoided any blame for Stevenson's expected loss to Eisenhower in November. The vice presidential nomination vote, which required three separate ballots, was (as of 2024) the last multi-balloted contest held at a quadrennial political convention of any major U.S. political party for the presidency or vice presidency. Candidates File:SenatorKefauver(D-TN) (3x4a).jpg|Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee File:Jfk2.jpg|Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts File:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg|Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota Image:RobertFWagner.png|New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. of New York Image:Albert Gore Sr..jpg|Senator Albert Gore Sr. of Tennessee File:Clinton P. Anderson, 13th Secretary of Agriculture, June 1945 - May 1948. - Flickr - USDAgov.jpg|Senator Clinton P. Anderson of New Mexico Frank Goad Clement Tennessee Governor.jpg|Governor Frank G. Clement of Tennessee Image:LeRoy Collins sl148.jpg|Governor LeRoy Collins of Florida Image:Luther Hartwell Hodges.jpg|Governor Luther H. Hodges of North Carolina The vote totals in the vice presidential balloting are recorded in the following table, which also comes from Bain & Parris. Vice Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (August 17, 1956) File:1956DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallotBefore.png|1st Vice Presidential Ballot (Before Shifts) File:1956DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallotAfter.png|1st Vice Presidential Ballot (After Shifts) File:1956DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallotBefore.png|2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (Before Shifts) File:1956DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallotDuring.png|2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (During Shifts) File:1956DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallotAfter.png|2nd Vice Presidential Ballot (After Shifts) ==Election outcome==

The Democratic convention preceded the 1956 Republican convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. At the GOP gathering, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for reelection. On November 6, Stevenson and Kefauver lost the election in a landslide. ==See also==