Presidential Election 1952

In 1952, the United States had been involved in the Korean War for two years.  A year earlier, President Harry S Truman had fired General Douglas MacArthur by referring it as relieving him of his command.  MacArthur, in a Joint Session of Congress declared that old soldiers never die, they just simply fade away.  There was also Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican senator from Wisconsin going around accusing every Democrat in the United States from Hollywood to Washington, DC of being a communist.

But 1952 was also a Presidential Election year and after 20 years of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman in the White House, the American people were looking for a change in leadership.  But, to gain a nominee was not going to be easy.

Early in 1952, Truman, realizing that his popularity was bottoming out due to Korea and firing General MacArthur had decided to not be a candidate for re-election in 1952.  While the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution had limited the president's term in office to being elected to no more than two four year terms and serving no more than ten years as president; President Truman was grandfathered.  The first to be affected by this new law would be the president sworn in on January 20, 1953.

With Truman out, that left the door open for his Vice President; Alben Barkley to decide if he wanted to run.  Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee threw his hat into the ring.  But it was Adlai Stevenson, the governor of Illinois and Harry Truman's hand picked candidate who got the Nomination.

As for the Republican Party, they were looking for heroes from the last war.  There was General Douglas MacArthur.  There was General Dwight D. Eisenhower who had been serving as commander of NATO.  Ike had yet to declare a Party affiliation.  Then there was Harry Truman's Senate enemy; Senator Bob Taft of Ohio.  As the Republican National Convention started there was infighting between the Eisenhower supporters and the Taft supporters on seating the Georgia Delegation.  At the Convention the GOP nominated General Eisenhower and Senator Richard Nixon as his vice presidential running mate.

In 1947, after being sworn in as freshman members of Congress, Richard Nixon of California and John Kennedy of Massachusetts became fast friends.  They started to have a friendly rivalry to see who would rise through the political ranks faster.  In 1950, Congressman Nixon was elected Senator Nixon, and yes, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. did donate $100 to his 1950 campaign.  Now, being nominated as Eisenhower's running mate; Nixon was on his way.  Kennedy would run for the US Senate in 1952 defeating the Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge.

While the 1952 Presidential campaign was predictable and somewhat quiet, it was not without its controversies.  The biggest one was when six weeks before the Election that Richard Nixon had a secret slush fund.  In what would be known as the Checkers Speech, Senator Nixon with his wife Pat sitting by his side went before a national radio and television audience disclosing to the American people the amount of the Nixons' personal net worth.  While the "experts" called for Ike to dump Nixon from the ticket it was the American people who wanted Nixon to stay on the ticket.

In the end the Eisenhower/Nixon ticket won 442 Electoral Votes and 34,075,529 or 55.2 percent of the Popular Vote to the Stevenson/Sparkman ticket's 89 Electoral Votes or 27,375,090 or 44.3 percent of the Popular Vote.  Twenty years of Democratic Party rule in the White House would be over.

But, there would be a rematch between Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956.

See also:

• Presidential Election 1940
• Presidential Election 1944
• Presidential Election 1948
• Presidential Election 1952
• Presidential Election 1956
• Presidential Election 1960
• Presidential Election 1964
• Presidential Election 1968
• Presidential Election 1972
• Presidential Election 1976
• Presidential Election 1980
• Presidential Election 1984
• Presidential Election 1988
• Presidential Election 1992
• Presidential Election 1996
• Presidential Election 2000
• Presidential Election 2004
• Presidential Election 2008
• Presidential Election 2012
• Presidential Election 2016
• Presidential Election 2020