1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi explained

Party Name:	no
Type:	Presidential
Country:	Mississippi
Flag Image:	Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
Election Date:	November 6, 1956
Previous Election:	1952 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Previous Year:	1952
Next Election:	1960 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Next Year:	1960
Image1:	Adlai Stevenson close-up.jpg
Nominee1:	Adlai Stevenson
Party1:	Democratic
Home State1:	Illinois
Running Mate1:	Estes Kefauver
Electoral Vote1:	8
Popular Vote1:	144,498
Percentage1:	58.23%
Nominee2:	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party2:	Republican
Alliance2:	Black and Tan Grand Old Party
Home State2:	Pennsylvania^[1]
Running Mate2:	Richard Nixon
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	60,685
Percentage2:	24.46%
Image3:	3x4.svg
Nominee3:	Unpledged electors
Party3:	Dixiecrat
Color3:	FFA500
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	42,966
Percentage3:	17.31%
Map Size:	305px
President
Before Election:	Dwight Eisenhower
Before Party:	Republican
After Election:	Dwight Eisenhower
After Party:	Republican
Election Name:	1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Ongoing:	No

See main article: 1956 United States presidential election. The 1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 6, 1956. Mississippi voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the end of Reconstruction, Mississippi had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party was virtually nonexistent as a result of disenfranchisement among African Americans and poor whites, including voter intimidation against those who refused to vote Democratic.

From the time of Henry A. Wallace's appointment as vice-president and the 1943 Detroit race riots,^[2] however, the northern left wing of the Democratic Party became committed to restoring black political rights,^[3] a policy vehemently opposed by all Southern Democrats as an infringement upon "states' rights". Consequently, the four states with the highest proportions of (disenfranchised) African-Americans in the populations listed South Carolina Governor James Strom Thurmond instead of national Democratic nominee Harry S. Truman as the "Democratic" nominee in the 1948 presidential election. Although Thurmond easily carried South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, Truman won the election.

Nevertheless, demands for civil rights legislation continued to intensify during the following eight years, although the pressing issue of the Korean War meant that Southern Democrats did not run a third-party ticket in 1952;^[4] however dissatisfaction with Democrat Adlai Stevenson on civil rights meant Dwight Eisenhower (listed as an "Independent" on the 1952 Mississippi ballot)^[5] gained considerable support from the exclusively white electorate of black belt counties,^[6] despite having a virtually identical position on civil rights.^[4]

After the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, however, Mississippi's rulers realized they could not rely on either major party to enforce segregation and white supremacy. The Citizens' Councils sought to map a regional caucus to deal with this issue, but it feared a split as had occurred in 1948.^[7] Nevertheless, the Citizens' Councils did place a slate of unpledged electors on the ballot alongside Eisenhower and Stevenson electors, although state officials, especially incumbent Governor James P. Coleman, strongly opposed them.^[8]

Polls

Source	Ranking	As of
Fort Worth Star-Telegram^[9]		November 2, 1956
The Clarion-Ledger^[10]		November 4, 1956
The Daily Herald^[11]		November 5, 1956

Results

1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democrat	Adlai Stevenson II	144,498	58.23%	8
	Mississippi Republican/Black and Tan GOP	Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent)	60,685	24.46%	0
	Dixiecrat	Unpledged electors	42,966	17.31%	0
Totals			248,149	100.00%	8

Results by county

County	Adlai Stevenson Democratic		Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican		Unpledged Electors States’ Rights		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,279		31.24%		1,664		40.64%		1,151		28.11%		-385		-9.40%		4,094
	Alcorn		3,143		77.19%		827		20.31%		102		2.50%		2,316		56.88%		4,072
	Amite		802		46.74%		255		14.86%		659		38.40%		143		8.34%		1,716
	Attala		1,793		67.46%		445		16.74%		420		15.80%		1,348		50.72%		2,658
	Benton		786		83.26%		108		11.44%		50		5.30%		678		71.82%		944
	Bolivar		1,176		33.49%		754		21.48%		1,581		45.03%		-405		-11.54%		3,511
	Calhoun		1,763		79.52%		301		13.58%		153		6.90%		1,462		65.94%		2,217
	Carroll		1,080		69.63%		234		15.09%		237		15.28%		843		54.35%		1,551
	Chickasaw		1,650		80.25%		231		11.24%		175		8.51%		1,419		69.01%		2,056
	Choctaw		1,117		79.56%		221		15.74%		66		4.70%		896		63.82%		1,404
	Claiborne		339		41.24%		191		23.24%		292		35.52%		47		5.72%		822
	Clarke		1,763		73.24%		500		20.77%		144		5.98%		1,263		52.47%		2,407
	Clay		1,225		54.52%		410		18.25%		612		27.24%		613		27.28%		2,247
	Coahoma		1,677		50.83%		1,082		32.80%		540		16.37%		595		18.03%		3,299
	Copiah		1,270		55.12%		387		16.80%		647		28.08%		623		27.04%		2,304
	Covington		1,382		67.38%		386		18.82%		283		13.80%		996		48.56%		2,051
	DeSoto		1,236		66.96%		398		21.56%		212		11.48%		838		45.40%		1,846
	Forrest		1,928		32.06%		2,256		37.52%		1,829		30.42%		-328		-5.46%		6,013
	Franklin		862		55.83%		177		11.46%		505		32.71%		357		23.12%		1,544
	George		1,150		69.24%		403		24.26%		108		6.50%		747		44.98%		1,661
	Greene		734		59.72%		351		28.56%		144		11.72%		383		31.16%		1,229
	Grenada		949		43.37%		407		18.60%		832		38.03%		117		5.34%		2,188
	Hancock		1,179		44.09%		1,421		53.14%		74		2.77%		-242		-9.05%		2,674
	Harrison		6,549		50.37%		5,742		44.17%		710		5.46%		807		6.20%		13,001
	Hinds		7,104		35.03%		7,015		34.59%		6,159		30.37%		89		0.44%		20,278
	Holmes		872		40.77%		215		10.05%		1,052		49.18%		-180		-8.41%		2,139
	Humphreys		576		44.51%		127		9.81%		591		45.67%		-15		-1.16%		1,294
	Issaquena		172		59.52%		42		14.53%		75		25.95%		97		33.57%		289
	Itawamba		2,310		86.68%		298		11.18%		57		2.14%		2,012		75.50%		2,665
	Jackson		3,882		56.21%		2,692		38.98%		332		4.81%		1,190		17.23%		6,906
	Jasper		1,958		80.08%		287		11.74%		200		8.18%		1,671		68.34%		2,445
	Jefferson		440		45.74%		189		19.65%		333		34.62%		107		11.12%		962
	Jefferson Davis		1,049		73.41%		156		10.92%		224		15.68%		825		57.73%		1,429
	Jones		5,137		62.17%		2,463		29.81%		663		8.02%		2,674		32.36%		8,263
	Kemper		1,586		87.00%		173		9.49%		64		3.51%		1,413		77.51%		1,823
	Lafayette		1,968		72.86%		575		21.29%		158		5.85%		1,393		51.57%		2,701
	Lamar		805		46.86%		429		24.97%		484		28.17%		321		18.69%		1,718
	Lauderdale		5,414		59.32%		2,817		30.86%		896		9.82%		2,597		28.46%		9,127
	Lawrence		1,025		67.48%		276		18.17%		218		14.35%		749		49.31%		1,519
	Leake		2,475		82.53%		220		7.34%		304		10.14%		2,171		72.39%		2,999
	Lee		3,883		75.30%		929		18.01%		345		6.69%		2,954		57.29%		5,157
	Leflore		1,769		49.30%		887		24.72%		932		25.98%		837		23.32%		3,588
	Lincoln		1,942		51.47%		848		22.48%		983		26.05%		959		25.42%		3,773
	Lowndes		2,308		55.94%		1,205		29.21%		613		14.86%		1,103		26.73%		4,126
	Madison		996		41.59%		377		15.74%		1,022		42.67%		-26		-1.08%		2,395
	Marion		1,751		57.75%		611		20.15%		670		22.10%		1,081		35.65%		3,032
	Marshall		1,192		70.37%		287		16.94%		215		12.69%		905		53.43%		1,694
	Monroe		3,630		78.50%		705		15.25%		289		6.25%		2,925		63.25%		4,624
	Montgomery		1,134		63.74%		278		15.63%		367		20.63%		767		43.11%		1,779
	Neshoba		2,827		77.90%		502		13.83%		300		8.27%		2,325		64.07%		3,629
	Newton		2,359		75.46%		360		11.52%		407		13.02%		1,952		62.44%		3,126
	Noxubee		690		52.27%		257		19.47%		373		28.26%		317		24.01%		1,320
	Oktibbeha		1,552		58.79%		702		26.59%		386		14.62%		850		32.20%		2,640
	Panola		1,741		66.17%		519		19.73%		371		14.10%		1,222		46.44%		2,631
	Pearl River		1,274		44.73%		1,129		39.64%		445		15.63%		145		5.09%		2,848
	Perry		581		52.82%		347		31.55%		172		15.64%		234		21.27%		1,100
	Pike		1,714		41.74%		1,210		29.47%		1,182		28.79%		504		12.27%		4,106
	Pontotoc		2,320		82.50%		335		11.91%		157		5.58%		1,985		70.59%		2,812
	Prentiss		1,942		80.95%		383		15.96%		74		3.08%		1,559		64.99%		2,399
	Quitman		954		63.64%		276		18.41%		269		17.95%		678		45.23%		1,499
	Rankin		1,537		49.76%		556		18.00%		996		32.24%		541		17.52%		3,089
	Scott		2,077		65.50%		503		15.86%		591		18.64%		1,486		46.86%		3,171
	Sharkey		308		37.02%		211		25.36%		313		37.62%		-5		-0.60%		832
	Simpson		2,140		67.11%		467		14.64%		582		18.25%		1,558		48.86%		3,189
	Smith		2,055		80.81%		277		10.89%		211		8.30%		1,778		69.92%		2,543
	Stone		761		65.15%		293		25.09%		114		9.76%		468		40.06%		1,168
	Sunflower		1,585		50.80%		520		16.67%		1,015		32.53%		570		18.27%		3,120
	Tallahatchie		1,969		73.28%		341		12.69%		377		14.03%		1,592		59.25%		2,687
	Tate		1,414		80.85%		171		9.78%		164		9.38%		1,243		71.07%		1,749
	Tippah		2,569		86.94%		287		9.71%		99		3.35%		2,282		77.23%		2,955
	Tishomingo		1,577		72.67%		516		23.78%		77		3.55%		1,061		48.89%		2,170
	Tunica		470		56.22%		200		23.92%		166		19.86%		270		32.30%		836
	Union		2,882		82.48%		427		12.22%		185		5.29%		2,455		70.26%		3,494
	Walthall		1,143		66.26%		306		17.74%		276		16.00%		837		48.52%		1,725
	Warren		1,857		34.85%		2,419		45.40%		1,052		19.74%		-562		-10.55%		5,328
	Washington		2,722		49.58%		1,973		35.94%		795		14.48%		749		13.64%		5,490
	Wayne		1,493		70.13%		373		17.52%		263		12.35%		1,120		52.61%		2,129
	Webster		1,412		80.92%		188		10.77%		145		8.31%		1,224		70.15%		1,745
	Wilkinson		260		30.55%		240		28.20%		351		41.25%		-91		-10.70%		851
	Winston		2,132		78.82%		361		13.35%		212		7.84%		1,771		65.47%		2,705
	Yalobusha		1,015		59.85%		414		24.41%		267		15.74%		601		35.44%		1,696
	Yazoo		911		29.50%		370		11.98%		1,807		58.52%		-896		-29.02%		3,088
Totals	144,498	58.23%	60,685	24.46%	42,966	17.31%	83,813	33.77%	248,149

Analysis

Ultimately Mississippi was to vote for Stevenson by a convincing margin of 33.76 points, as the 1952 Eisenhower vote in the black belt was substantially turned over to the unpledged slate, whilst Stevenson held almost all of the vote he received in 1952. Mississippi was Stevenson's second-strongest state behind Georgia and in terms of popular vote Eisenhower's weakest.

, 1956 would nonetheless remain the last election where a Democrat has gained a majority of the vote in Mississippi. The party's increasing embrace of civil rights for blacks would turn the state over to another unpledged slate in 1960, then overwhelmingly to the Republican nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964, who had been one of only six Republicans to vote against the Civil Rights Act.^[13] With the enfranchisement of the state's blacks via the Voting Rights Act, the majority white population would overwhelmingly move toward the Republican Party.^[14] Since 1964 only Jimmy Carter in 1976 has carried Mississippi for the Democratic Party—and even Southern evangelical Carter's performance was his third-weakest in the extended South behind his narrow losses in Virginia and Oklahoma.

No Democratic presidential nominee has carried the following counties since Stevenson did so in this election: Lamar, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Lowndes, Newton, Rankin, Scott and Simpson.^[15] Stevenson is also the last Democrat to carry Clarke County outright, but Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan tied there with 3,303 votes apiece in 1980.^[16] Oktibbeha County would not vote Democratic again until Barack Obama carried it in 2008. This is also the last election in which the Democratic nominee carried Mississippi without winning the presidency or that a Republican won two terms without ever winning the state.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Presidents . September 27, 2017 . David Leip . Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania.
2. Book: Scher, Richard K. . Politics in the New South: Republicanism, Race and Leadership in the Twentieth Century . 1563248484 . 95.
3. Book: Frederickson, Karl A. . The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968 . 0807849103 . 39.
4. Book: McAdam, Doug . Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America . Karina . Kloos . 0199937869 . 76–77.
5. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1952 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi
6. Book: Ward, Jason Morgan . Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 . 0807869228 . 156.
7. Book: McMillen, Neil R. . The Citizens' Council: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction, 1954-64 . 0252064410 . 317.
8. News: Coleman Opposes SR Electors on Mississippi Ballot. The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. September 21, 1956. 1, 12.
9. News: Final Babson Poll Shows Eisenhower Winning Easily. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. CTS. November 2, 1956. 22.
10. News: Worth. Gene. November 4, 1956. State Will Give Nod to Demos, but Reluctantly; Four Slates of Electors Offered for Unenthusiastic Balloters. 1. The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi.
11. News: November 5, 1956. Stevenson Given Strong Chance to Sweep Mississippi: Little Hope for Ike Supporters, States Righters. 1. The Daily Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi.
12. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1956 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi
13. Book: Thernstrom. Stephan. Thernstrom. Abigail. America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible. 151. 1439129096.
14. See Book: Black, Earl. Competing Responses to the New Southern Politics: Republican and Democratic Southern Strategies, 1964-76. Perspectives on the American South: An Annual Review of Society, Politics, and Culture. Reed. John Shelton. Black. Merle. 2021. 9781136764882.
15. Book: Menendez, Albert J.. 2005. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. 236–238. 0786422173.
16. Web site: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 1980 Presidential General Election Data Graphs — Mississippi.