Summary
The 1956 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. State voters chose three[4] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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All 3 Wyoming votes to the Electoral College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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Wyoming was won by incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R–Pennsylvania), running with Vice President Richard Nixon, with 60.08 percent of the popular vote, against Adlai Stevenson (D–Illinois), running with Senator Estes Kefauver, with 39.92 percent of the popular vote, a Republican victory margin of 20.2%.[5][6] This margin represented a slight decrease from Eisenhower's victory in the state 4 years earlier in 1952, despite the fact that he won nationwide by a larger margin. Nevertheless, Wyoming still weighed in as 2.8% more Republican than the rest of the nation. Ironically enough, despite his margins in most of the counties he won being slightly less than 1952, Eisenhower was able to improve upon his margins in the heavily unionized Sweetwater County, with the area swinging to the right by 6.7%, making him the first Republican to break 40% of the county's vote since Herbert Hoover in 1928.
Eisenhower's underperformance relative to 1952 was not unique to just Wyoming, as most of the Mountain West swung a few points against him. Given the fact that the state's economy relied heavily upon agriculture, this is possibly due to a 5 year long drought in the High Plains, which encompasses parts of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico.[7]
This would be the last time that Wyoming would give 60% or more of its vote to any candidate until Richard Nixon's 1972 landslide victory, and the last time that Carbon and Laramie counties would select the Republican nominee until 1968 and 1972, respectively. This election was the first time ever that a Republican won two presidential terms by carrying Wyoming in both instances.
Campaign edit
Wyoming was mostly ignored during the campaign. Estes Kefauver gave one speech in Rock Springs, Wyoming.[8]
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dwight D. Eisenhower (inc.) | 74,573 | 60.08% | |
| Democratic | Adlai Stevenson | 49,554 | 39.92% | |
| Total votes | 124,127 | 100.00% | ||
Results by county edit
| County | Dwight David Eisenhower Republican |
Adlai Stevenson II Democratic |
Margin | Total votes cast[9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Albany | 4,315 | 55.88% | 3,407 | 44.12% | 908 | 11.76% | 7,722 |
| Big Horn | 3,369 | 65.01% | 1,813 | 34.99% | 1,556 | 30.02% | 5,182 |
| Campbell | 1,473 | 69.19% | 656 | 30.81% | 817 | 38.38% | 2,129 |
| Carbon | 3,336 | 50.90% | 3,218 | 49.10% | 118 | 1.80% | 6,554 |
| Converse | 1,855 | 71.18% | 751 | 28.82% | 1,104 | 42.36% | 2,606 |
| Crook | 1,139 | 72.78% | 426 | 27.22% | 713 | 45.56% | 1,565 |
| Fremont | 4,887 | 65.54% | 2,569 | 34.46% | 2,318 | 31.08% | 7,456 |
| Goshen | 2,825 | 57.01% | 2,130 | 42.99% | 695 | 14.02% | 4,955 |
| Hot Springs | 1,663 | 62.99% | 977 | 37.01% | 686 | 25.98% | 2,640 |
| Johnson | 1,842 | 76.12% | 578 | 23.88% | 1,264 | 52.24% | 2,420 |
| Laramie | 10,581 | 53.84% | 9,072 | 46.16% | 1,509 | 7.68% | 19,653 |
| Lincoln | 2,264 | 59.16% | 1,563 | 40.84% | 701 | 18.32% | 3,827 |
| Natrona | 10,796 | 62.56% | 6,462 | 37.44% | 4,334 | 25.12% | 17,258 |
| Niobrara | 1,248 | 70.67% | 518 | 29.33% | 730 | 41.34% | 1,766 |
| Park | 4,397 | 69.17% | 1,960 | 30.83% | 2,437 | 38.34% | 6,357 |
| Platte | 1,848 | 55.21% | 1,499 | 44.79% | 349 | 10.42% | 3,347 |
| Sheridan | 5,546 | 63.38% | 3,204 | 36.62% | 2,342 | 26.76% | 8,750 |
| Sublette | 901 | 71.96% | 351 | 28.04% | 550 | 43.92% | 1,252 |
| Sweetwater | 3,355 | 41.41% | 4,747 | 58.59% | -1,392 | -17.18% | 8,102 |
| Teton | 1,089 | 77.73% | 312 | 22.27% | 777 | 55.46% | 1,401 |
| Uinta | 1,742 | 56.87% | 1,321 | 43.13% | 421 | 13.74% | 3,063 |
| Washakie | 2,265 | 69.61% | 989 | 30.39% | 1,276 | 39.22% | 3,254 |
| Weston | 1,837 | 64.05% | 1,031 | 35.95% | 806 | 28.10% | 2,868 |
| Totals | 74,573 | 60.08% | 49,554 | 39.92% | 25,019 | 20.16% | 124,127 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "United States Presidential election of 1956 – Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
- ^ "1956 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65)". Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "1956 Presidential General Election Results – Wyoming". Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1956". Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 317, 436 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
- ^ Trachsel 1957, p. 166-167.
- ^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 459 ISBN 0405077114
Works cited edit
- Trachsel, Herman (1957). "The 1956 Election in Wyoming". The Western Political Quarterly. 12 (1). University of Utah: 166–68. doi:10.2307/444255. JSTOR 444255.