1952 United States presidential election in Mississippi explained

See main article: 1952 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1952 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Country:Mississippi
Flag Image:Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Previous Year:1948
Election Date:November 4, 1952
Next Election:1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Next Year:1956
Image1:Adlai Stevenson close-up.jpg
Nominee1:Adlai Stevenson
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Illinois
Running Mate1:John Sparkman
Electoral Vote1:8
Popular Vote1:172,566
Percentage1:60.44%
Nominee2:Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party2:Independent (United States)
Home State2:New York[1]
Electoral Vote2:0
Running Mate2:Richard Nixon
Popular Vote2:112,966
Percentage2:39.56%
Map Size:305px
President
Before Election:Harry S. Truman
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Dwight D. Eisenhower
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1952 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 4, 1952, as part of the United States presidential election of 1952. The Democratic Party candidate, Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, won the state of Mississippi over Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe and General of the Army by a margin of 59,600 votes, or 20.88 percentage points. Eisenhower went on to win the election nationally, with 442 electoral votes and a commanding 10.9 percent lead over Stevenson in the popular vote.

Mississippi in this time period was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party was virtually nonexistent as a result of disenfranchisement among poor whites and African Americans,[2] including voter intimidation against those who refused to vote Democratic. The state Republican Party led by Perry Wilbon Howard II — who resided in Washington D.C. after 1928 — was entirely drawn from the state’s tiny black middle class and never contested non-presidential elections,[3] serving entirely to sell federal patronage,[4] mostly to white Democrats.[5] The 1948 election split the National Democratic Party and segregationist Southern Democrats over the issue of civil rights for African Americans.[6] In the 1952 election, Stevenson, a moderate on race issues, selected the segregationist Senator Sparkman as his running mate to avoid another split in the Democratic vote. However, this was not enough for some white Mississippians, who felt that the national Republican Party already offered a better prospect for their conservative social and economic goals.[3]

Campaign

Because the state Republican Party remained under black-and-tan control due to state politicians’ longstanding fear of competition with a lily-white GOP,[4] national Republican candidates Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon ran as “Independents for Eisenhower”. Both Howard’s black-and-tans and the long-insurgent “lily-white” faction led by George L. Sheldon of Clinton agreed to withdraw their slates in favour of the Eisenhower Democrats in mid-October.[7]

Eisenhower's electors ran as independents. His electors were Sam Lumpkin, Everette Truly, Earle Wingo, Hardy Lott, Joe Wroten, Earl Evans, W.L. Guice, and the wife of Robert Shands. Stevenson's electors were T.J. Tubb, Jim Blount, R.P. Sugg, Erst Long, Hilton Waits, William Harold Cox, J. L. Craft, and Boyce Holleman.

Despite Stevenson winning the state, Eisenhower won many Black Belt counties on the Mississippi River with large nonvoting African American populations.[8] Eisenhower won five of the nine counties with black populations above 70%. This was due to white Republican voters rather than black voters, who were ineligible to vote.

Polls

SourceRankingAs of
The Columbus Ledger[9] (Flip)September 8, 1952
Lansing State Journal[10] (Flip)September 17, 1952
The Daily Herald[11] (Flip)October 23, 1952
The Salt Lake Tribune[12] (Flip)October 24, 1952
The Greeneville Sun[13] (Flip)October 25, 1952
The Modesto Bee[14] (Flip)October 27, 1952
Wichita Falls Times[15] (Flip)October 29, 1952

Results

1952 United States presidential election in Mississippi
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticAdlai Stevenson172,56660.44%8
IndependentDwight Eisenhower112,96639.56%0
Totals285,532100.00%8

Results by county

CountyAdlai Stevenson
Democratic
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Independent
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%
Adams1,69741.71%2,37258.29%-675-16.58%4,069
Alcorn3,27573.93%1,15526.07%2,12047.86%4,430
Amite1,12159.06%77740.94%34418.12%1,898
Attala2,25865.72%1,17834.28%1,08031.44%3,436
Benton96381.68%21618.32%74763.36%1,179
Bolivar1,84346.79%2,09653.21%-253-6.42%3,939
Calhoun2,28476.77%69123.23%1,59353.54%2,975
Carroll1,16868.58%53531.42%63337.16%1,703
Chickasaw1,80572.49%68527.51%1,12044.98%2,490
Choctaw1,38772.58%52427.42%86345.16%1,911
Claiborne49646.97%56053.03%-64-6.06%1,056
Clarke2,00072.62%75427.38%1,24645.24%2,754
Clay1,23053.32%1,07746.68%1536.64%2,307
Coahoma2,11556.64%1,61943.36%49613.28%3,734
Copiah2,05057.31%1,52742.69%52314.62%3,577
Covington1,53566.59%77033.41%76533.18%2,305
DeSoto1,28863.08%75436.92%53426.16%2,042
Forrest2,93639.59%4,48060.41%-1,544-20.82%7,416
Franklin1,16669.40%51430.60%65238.80%1,680
George1,35169.14%60330.86%74838.28%1,954
Greene1,24771.14%50628.86%74142.28%1,753
Grenada1,17454.00%1,00046.00%1748.00%2,174
Hancock1,57853.95%1,34746.05%2317.90%2,925
Harrison7,18154.65%5,96045.35%1,2219.30%13,141
Hinds10,93346.62%12,52053.38%-1,587-6.76%23,453
Holmes1,42352.16%1,30547.84%1184.32%2,728
Humphreys85859.30%58940.70%26918.60%1,447
Issaquena17057.24%12742.76%4314.48%297
Itawamba2,23680.09%55619.91%1,68060.18%2,792
Jackson4,14665.64%2,17034.36%1,97631.28%6,316
Jasper1,87273.70%66826.30%1,20447.40%2,540
Jefferson53946.91%61053.09%-71-6.18%1,149
Jefferson Davis1,62677.47%47322.53%1,15354.94%2,099
Jones5,88459.30%4,03940.70%1,84518.60%9,923
Kemper1,59381.07%37218.93%1,22162.14%1,965
Lafayette2,36373.14%86826.86%1,49546.28%3,231
Lamar1,26054.93%1,03445.07%2269.86%2,294
Lauderdale5,84158.54%4,13741.46%1,70417.08%9,978
Lawrence1,11766.77%55633.23%56133.54%1,673
Leake2,66781.56%60318.44%2,06463.12%3,270
Lee4,17467.58%2,00232.42%2,17235.16%6,176
Leflore1,84543.12%2,43456.88%-589-13.76%4,279
Lincoln2,27152.83%2,02847.17%2435.66%4,299
Lowndes1,61837.73%2,67062.27%-1,052-24.54%4,288
Madison1,42548.78%1,49651.22%-71-2.44%2,921
Marion2,59764.65%1,42035.35%1,17729.30%4,017
Marshall1,84775.36%60424.64%1,24350.72%2,451
Monroe3,51271.25%1,41728.75%2,09542.50%4,929
Montgomery1,35661.75%84038.25%51623.50%2,196
Neshoba3,56776.74%1,08123.26%2,48653.48%4,648
Newton2,46074.30%85125.70%1,60948.60%3,311
Noxubee75846.08%88753.92%-129-7.84%1,645
Oktibbeha1,66653.72%1,43546.28%2317.44%3,101
Panola2,04766.48%1,03233.52%1,01532.96%3,079
Pearl River2,06054.20%1,74145.80%3198.40%3,801
Perry78260.48%51139.52%27120.96%1,293
Pike2,49546.18%2,90853.82%-413-7.64%5,403
Pontotoc2,28177.88%64822.12%1,63355.76%2,929
Prentiss2,67278.52%73121.48%1,94157.04%3,403
Quitman1,15870.18%49229.82%66640.36%1,650
Rankin2,07757.34%1,54542.66%53214.68%3,622
Scott2,20866.29%1,12333.71%1,08532.58%3,331
Sharkey38839.27%60060.73%-212-21.46%988
Simpson2,76775.91%87824.09%1,88951.82%3,645
Smith2,28875.61%73824.39%1,55051.22%3,026
Stone96562.91%56937.09%39625.82%1,534
Sunflower2,04950.52%2,00749.48%421.04%4,056
Tallahatchie2,35075.86%74824.14%1,60251.72%3,098
Tate1,57580.28%38719.72%1,18860.56%1,962
Tippah2,87884.92%51115.08%2,36769.84%3,389
Tishomingo1,59570.14%67929.86%91640.28%2,274
Tunica53058.05%38341.95%14716.10%913
Union2,74974.99%91725.01%1,83249.98%3,666
Walthall1,35773.43%49126.57%86646.86%1,848
Warren2,36640.63%3,45859.38%-1,092-18.75%5,824
Washington2,61844.23%3,30155.77%-683-11.54%5,919
Wayne1,60469.11%71730.89%88738.22%2,321
Webster1,76579.58%45320.42%1,31259.16%2,218
Wilkinson56344.61%69955.39%-136-10.78%1,262
Winston2,55976.85%77123.15%1,78853.70%3,330
Yalobusha1,34664.13%75335.87%59328.26%2,099
Yazoo1,70250.28%1,68349.72%190.56%3,385
Totals172,56660.44%112,96639.56%59,60020.88%285,532

Analysis

The Stevenson-Sparkman ticket carried Mississippi and its eight electoral votes with 60.44 percent of the popular vote, amounting to a total of 172,566 votes. These results, however, were the weakest for a state Democrat since the 1872 election when the state remained occupied by Union troops and Republican Ulysses S. Grant carried the state.[16] It represented a large swing for the Republicans from 1948, when Thomas E. Dewey won only 2.62 percent of the vote.

Stevenson carried 67 of Mississippi’s 82 counties, running up huge margins in the northeastern corner and rural areas of the state. Eisenhower, whose Mississippi electors were “Independent”, carried fifteen counties, the first time a national Republican had carried any since Herbert Hoover in 1928. His main base of support came from the western counties along the Mississippi River, which had a high concentration of nonvoting African Americans, including Hinds County, home to the state capital Jackson.

In contrast, the northeastern hills, which had given President Truman his highest proportion in 1948,[17] along with the southeastern pineywoods both voted solidly for Stevenson, although not by the margins pre-1948 Democrats ran up throughout Mississippi. Whereas Delta whites had permanently estranged themselves from the Democratic Party over issues of economics and race, Hills and Pine Belt counties, much more economically populist although even more socially conservative,[18] had not shared much in the Dixiecrat upheaval despite all giving majorities to “Democrat” Strom Thurmond in 1948. The divide between traditional Democrat Stevenson and the independent electors pledged to Eisenhower was closely related to the cleavage between “Delta” and “Hills”[19] seen in Democratic white primaries during the first half of the twentieth century.[17]

1952 began to show signs of the impending collapse of Democratic dominance in Mississippi and the rest of the South. The vote share for the state Democratic candidate would decline in the next two subsequent elections, ultimately paving the way for Barry Goldwater’s victory in Mississippi and the Deep South in 1964.

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Web site: U.S. presidential election, 1952 . Facts on File . October 24, 2013 . Eisenhower, born in Texas, considered a resident of New York, and headquartered at the time in Paris, finally decided to run for the Republican nomination . https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195323/http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?iPin=EAPPE0334&SID=2&DatabaseName=American+History+Online&InputText=%22presidential+election+1952%22&SearchStyle=&dTitle=U.S.+presidential+election%2C+1952&TabRecordType=Subject+Entry&BioCountPass=0&SubCountPass=1&DocCountPass=0&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=0&FedCountPass=&MedCountPass=0&NewsCountPass=0&RecPosition=1&AmericanData=Set . October 29, 2013 . dead .
  2. Book: Wright-Austin, Sharon D.. The Transformation of Plantation Politics: Black Politics, Concentrated Poverty, and Social Capital in the Mississippi Delta. 2006. 9780791468012 . 45.
  3. Book: Busbee, Westley F.. Mississippi: A History. 2014. 9781118822722. 276–278.
  4. Book: Heersink, Boris. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. Jenkins. Jeffery A.. Cambridge University Press. 2020. 9781108850827 . 329–331.
  5. Book: African American Lives. Oxford University Press. 9780199882861. Higginbotham. Evelyn Brooks. March 23, 2004. 417–418. Gates. Henry Louis.
  6. Kehl. James A.. Philadelphia, 1948: City of Crucial Conventions. Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 67. 2. 313–326.
  7. News: Merger of State Ike Factions Near: GOP Groups Set to Withdraw Electors. Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 1. October 20, 1952.
  8. Book: Menendez, Albert J.. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. McFarland & Company. 2005. 0786422173. Jefferson, North Carolina. 91, 233–237.
  9. News: Lauderdale. W.M.. Allen. Robert S.. Mississippi Is Still Democratic Although Eisenhower Is Strong. The Columbus Ledger. Columbus, Mississippi. September 8, 1952. 5.
  10. News: Cornell. Douglas B.. September 17, 1952. Ike Given 50–50 Chance To Break into Solid South. 7, 16. Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan.
  11. News: Fuller. Keith. Survey by State Newspapers Indicates Mississippi Will Stay Democrat in Election. The Daily Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. October 23, 1952. 4.
  12. News: Cornell. Douglas B.. October 24, 1952. Journalists Bet 50–50 Ike Will Dent South. 1–2. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City.
  13. News: October 25, 1952 . US Poll Shows — Eisenhower Leading Stevenson in Electoral Votes, but Governor Has More States in His Column. 1, 8. The Greeneville Sun. Greeneville, Tennessee. Princeton Research Service.
  14. News: October 27, 1952. NY Times Survey Indicates Close Election Tuesday. 8. The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California.
  15. News: Gallup. George. October 29, 1952. Ferment in Dixie Is Big Campaign Issue. 15. Wichita Falls Times. Wichita Falls, Texas.
  16. Web site: Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Mississippi. Leip. David. 2017-05-07.
  17. Strong . Donald S. . August 1955 . The Presidential Election in the South, 1952 . The Journal of Politics . 17 . 3 . 343–389.
  18. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 262
  19. [Valdimer Orlando Key|Key, Valdimer Orlando]