The Greatest Generation: Hitler Killed in Allied Bombing

[Captain Chaos]

There was a timeline appearing in another web site with a POD of Hitler killed in a 1943 Allied bombing. We will explore the aftermath of TTL successful bombing of Hitler's vacation home in the German alps. So without further adoo:


On October 12, 1943, Allied planes in a squadron led by U.S. Navy Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. bomb Adolph Hitler’s mountain hideaway in Berchtesgaden killing him instantly. He was 54. The success of this mission is made possible thanks to a spy in Hitler’s most inner circle. Hermann Goering announces his death in a radio broadcast and declares himself Chancellor of Germany.

Two months later, Chancellor Goering sues the Allies for peace after German troops are routed in North Africa, Italy and the Balkans by US, British, Canadian, Australian and Free French troops; and on the eastern front by the Soviet Red Army.

On December 18, V-E Day, Goering signs the Treaty of Trieste, ending the war in Europe. Goering surrenders himself and several other members of the Nazi high command, including Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels. With Italian dictator Benito Mussolini deposed, only Japan remains among the Axis powers.

On January 29, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, awards Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the Congressional Medal of Honor. Also in attendance are his father, former Ambassador to Britain Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., his mother Rose, and five of his eight siblings. His brother, John, is in Bethesda Naval Medical Center recovering from injuries suffered during his own heroism in the Pacific theater of operations, saving several of his men after his PT boat was attacked by a Japanese ship. Joe Kennedy tells First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, “My Joe will be the first Catholic President.” Mrs. Roosevelt replies, “It would be an improvement over who could have been.”

On May 16, President Roosevelt is told of a successful test of an atomic bomb in New Mexico. With the German threat ended, there is less pressure to get it done quickly. This results in less carelessness and a sooner result. But it also resulted in Soviet moles helping to get it done more quickly so they could send the secrets to their masters sooner and close the gap with the Soviet Union.

On June 6, American forces liberate the Philippines from Japan, now that the troops are not needed in Europe. General Douglas MacArthur tells the Philippine people, “I have returned.” On June 24, American forces defeat the Japanese at Iwo Jima. President Roosevelt demands that the Japanese surrender. The next day, the Japanese announce that they will never surrender. On June 29, Hiroshima is destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare. Roosevelt demands that the Japanese surrender. They refuse, and Nagasaki is destroyed by an atomic bomb on July 1. Roosevelt again demands that the Japanese surrender. On July 3, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces his country’s surrender. The next day’s 4th of July celebrations will be the greatest in American history to that point.

On July 7, Franklin Delano Roosevelt announces that he will not seek a fourth term as President.

The 1944 Democratic National Convention
Based on President Roosevelt’s recommendations, the Democratic Convention at Chicago nominates Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, a Southerner but supporter of the New Deal and labor, and a moderate on civil rights, for President. Senator Harry S Truman of Missouri, a similarly-inclined politician from the Midwest/South border, is nominated for Vice President.

The 1944 Republican National Convention
The Republicans nominate Governor Thomas Dewey of New York. He selects Governor John Bricker of Ohio as his running mate.

The 1944 Presidential Election
With the Democrats credited for winning World War II and ending the Great Depression, Senator Claude Denson Pepper is elected the 33rd President of the United States. The election is not the landslide that outgoing President Franklin D. Roosevelt might have enjoyed, but it is still a solid victory for Pepper.

 

Claude Pepper/Harry S Truman (D) 445 EV, 56% PV
Thomas Dewey/John Bricker (R) 86 EV, 44% PV

The 1944 Congressional Elections

House Results:
Democrats    242 (+20)
Republicans   191 (-18)
Progressives    1 (-1)
Other             1 (-1)

Senate Results:   
Democrats     59 (+1)
Republicans   36 (-1)
Progressives   1 (-1)

Governor Spessard Holland of Florida is elected to succeed Claude Pepper in the Senate. Indiana Governor Henry Schricker defeats Homer Capehart to win the seat of interim Senator Samuel Jackson.

[Captain Chaos]

The First Term of Claude Denson Pepper (1945-1949)

Claude Denson Pepper is sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States by Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone on January 20, 1945 in Washington, DC. At 43, he is the youngest ever elected to the office. “We have spent the first half of the 20th Century becoming the most powerful nation this world has ever known,” he says in his Inaugural Address. “We must use the second half of the Century to use that power for justice and peace, at home and abroad.” Upon the conclusion of the inauguration ceremony, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt returns to his home in Hyde Park, New York.

Although briefly mentioning initiatives the Pepper Administration was going to undertake in his inaugural address on January 20, President Pepper officially unveils his legislative agenda during a two hour speech to a joint session of both Houses of Congress on January 30. Pepper’s speech regarding his legislative agenda, made ten days upon making his inaugural address, is remarkably similar to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” agenda, in regard to both foreign and domestic policy and even the name of President Pepper’s initiatives: “Fair Deal”. He also announces that the United States will offer assistance to countries fighting Communist expansion, which will be known as the Pepper Doctrine.

Important features of President Pepper’s “Fair Deal” agenda include:

•   A financial aid package for post-war Europe, popularly known as the “Marshall Plan,” named after Secretary of State George Marshall
•   Creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance of democratic states who agree to provide mutual defense if one of the member countries is attacked militarily
•   The GI Bill, a program to give returning World War II veterans money for going to college
•   Expansion of the American Housing industry
•   Creation of a Federal Highway system

In March elections in the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill’s Conservative party suffers defeat in the country first post-war election to the Labor party. Despite enjoying high popularity ratings during the war, the British did not look to Churchill to rebuild the economy. King George VI asks Clement Atlee to form a new government. Atlee replaces Churchill as resident of 10 Downing Street.

Just days after signing the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1945 (GI Bill) and the Marshall Plan into law, on April 28, President Pepper goes on his first visit to the European continent as President of the United States. During his three-week long trip, President Pepper meets with numerous leaders, including General Charles De Gaulle of France and Prime Minister Clement Atlee of the United Kingdom. At 10 Downing Street in London, President Pepper and Prime Minister Atlee sign the Atlantic Charter in June 1945. This Charter will eventually lead to the creation of NATO.

On July 16, former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Hyde Park, New York. He was 63. President Peppers order all flags across the Unites States lowered at half-staff for 30 days.

In early August, President Pepper’s Fair Deal program comes to life when the United States Senate passes the Housing Act of 1945 and the Tariff Act of 1945. The former restructures the American Housing industry by providing increased federal expenditure for Urban Renewal projects and allowing the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure mortgages. The Tariff Act of 1945 decreases tariff rates by one-third.

In October, Congress passes and President Peppers signs the Federal Highway Act of 1945, legislation intended to modernize the highways and create a system of interstate highways. General Dwight Eisenhower had testified in House and Senate hearings that a Federal highway system was needed to facilitate the transportation of military vehicles across the country in the event of a future war.

The 1946 Congressional Elections

House Results:
Democrats   247 (+5)
Republicans   187 (-5)
Progressives       1 (-1)

Senate Results:
Democrats    55 (-4)
Republicans    41 (+5)
Progressives      0 (-1)

In New York, former Governor Herbert Lehman defeats Irving Ives to succeed retiring Senator James Mead. Republicans gain Senate seats with the elections of John Bricker in Ohio, Arthur Watkins in Utah, James Kern in Missouri, Henry Cabot Lodge in Massachusetts, and Joseph McCarthy (defeated incumbent Progressive Senator Robert La Follette).

In Massachusetts, 30 year-old Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the man who led the bombing raid that killed Adolph Hitler and turned the war around, is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. His campaign is managed by his younger brother, John F. Kennedy. The younger brother ruffles a few feathers, and is told he will not have a friend in Massachusetts. He says privately, “I don’t care, as long as they vote for Joe.”

[Хahar 🤔]

Good TL domestically, but all sorts of problems with Germany, IMO.

[HappyWarrior]

I really like this TL.  I think your writing style is very similar to Rocky in his HH in 1920 TL.

[Captain Chaos]

On March 12, 1947, Soviet-backed candidates are defeated in Poland’s first free elections since 1938. Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, the leader of the Polish Government in Exile becomes the new Prime Minister. Later that month, anti-Communist parties are victorious in national elections held in Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece. Only in Yugoslavia does Marshal Josip Broz Tito rule with dictatorial powers. It is clear that World War II ending before the Soviets could march west through Eastern Europe have really hurt them. The USSR now has control only over those lands that were within their borders before the Nazi invasion of 1941.

With American assistance under the Pepper Doctrine, nationalist forces defeat the Communists in Pyongyang on April 14, 1948. Syngman Rhee declares the Republic of Korea to be independent of all Asian powers.

On June 12, a paranoid Joseph Stalin, having lost his chance to take over much of Europe and Asia, sees KGB head Lavrenti Beria come into his office. Thinking Beria is trying to kill him, he runs out of his office and onto his balcony, and falls over the railing. He dies on impact on the street below. Beria takes over as leader of the Soviet Union and has the bizarre nature of Stalin’s death covered up.

On September 15, Germany holds its first contested elections since Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933. The Christian Democratic Union wins the majority of seats in the Reichstag and its leader Konrad Adenauer becomes Chancellor of Germany. Otto Grotewohl, head of the Social Democratic Party, becomes the opposition leader.

The 1948 Democratic National Convention
President Claude Pepper and Vice President Harry S Truman are re-nominated over token opposition. The passage of a civil rights plank to the party platform results in the walkout of several Southern delegations who announce the formation of the States Rights Democratic Party.

The 1948 States Rights Democratic National Convention
At their convention in Birmingham, Alabama, the Democrats nominate South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond for President and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright for Vice President.

The 1948 Republican National Convention
The Republicans again nominate Governor Thomas Dewey of New York. He selects Governor Earl Warren of California for Vice President.

The 1948 Presidential Election
With unemployment falling to 5% and the nation at peace, President Pepper is easily re-elected to a second term.

Claude Pepper/Harry S Truman (D) 402 EV, 54% PV
Thomas Dewey/Earl Warren (R) 91 EV, 42% PV
Strom Thurmond/Fielding Wright (SR) 38 EV, 4% PV

After winning four states, Thurmond is determined to blunt the influence of the Southern liberal Pepper and moves to keep his party together to fight again.

The 1948 Congressional Elections

House Results
Democrats   265 (+18)
Republicans   169 (-18)
Progressives       1 (-)

Senate Results
Democrats   64 (+9)
Republicans   32 (-9)

Newly elected Senators include: Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, the mayor of Minneapolis whose speech at the Democratic National Convention resulted in the passage of the civil rights plank; former Governor Robert Kerr of Oklahoma; Estes Kefauver of Tennessee; and Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas who won his party’s primary by only 89 votes.

[The Mikado]

Questions about post-war Europe in this timeline: does Germany, after negotiating a peaceful solution, give back the territory it took in and before the war?  (Denmark, Benelux, half of France, half of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria)  If not, what does it hold onto?  Does the Soviet Union keep the half of Poland it took?  Does Poland receive East Prussia from the Germans?

[Captain Chaos]

Questions about post-war Europe in this timeline: does Germany, after negotiating a peaceful solution, give back the territory it took in and before the war?  (Denmark, Benelux, half of France, half of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria)  If not, what does it hold onto?  Does the Soviet Union keep the half of Poland it took?  Does Poland receive East Prussia from the Germans?

Any territories that Germany took during Hitler's rule is still returned to its original owners (similar to OTL). Poland does receive the city of Danzig from Germany and rename it Gdansk.

However, the earlier end of WWII ITTL enabled the Allies to occupy all of Germany before the Russians could march through Eastern Europe. Therefore, Germany remains one united country instead of being split into two countries and there is no iron curtain over Eastern Europe.

Also, the USSR keeps any land it took before the POD.

[Хahar 🤔]

Is Austria made independent? Any such move would have provoked a huge backlash.

[Captain Chaos]

Is Austria made independent? Any such move would have provoked a huge backlash.

As I indicated in my response to a prior question, any lands taken by Germany after Hitler came to power were returned to its original owners.

That means, Austria returned to its independence after WWII.

[Хahar 🤔]

Is Austria made independent? Any such move would have provoked a huge backlash.

As I indicated in my response to a prior question, any lands taken by Germany after Hitler came to power were returned to its original owners.

That means, Austria returned to its independence after WWII.

That would be hugely unpopular among both nations, and would be almost certainly implausible with a conditional surrender.

[Captain Chaos]

The Second Term of Claude Denson Pepper (1949-1953)
In his second inaugural address, President Pepper calls for reductions in defense spending and the mothballing of naval ships. With Europe recovering from World War II, Communism defeated in Korea and confined to the Soviet Union, and the Nationalists holding the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, the cuts are needed to fund domestic spending requirements. Even the Republican minority in Congress supports the cuts in order to balance the budget.

Vice President Harry Truman’s past experience in the Senate leave him with lingering suspicions of wasteful spending in the Pentagon. He recommends that President Pepper appoint former Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson as Secretary of Defense.

By the spring, the civil war in China ends as Deng Xiaoping turns pragmatist and hands over Mao Zedong over to the Kuomintang (Nationalist) forces of Chiang Kai-shek, as they were about six months away from winning at Deng’s estimate. Deng and his Communist followers accept exile on the island of Formosa (Taiwan), where Chiang believes they will not be a threat to the mainland as “big fish in a small pond.”

Despite the Nationalist victory in the Chinese civil war, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin makes a speech at a women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia and blames Claude Pepper for losing Taiwan to the Communists. He even refers to the President as “Red” Pepper. Fortunately, very few people listen to the rants of McCarthy.

In September 1949, Congress passes amendments to the National Security Act of 1947. While the amendments reduce wasteful spending, they also drastically reduce the budgets for the Navy and Marine Corps. These latter amendments faced heavy opposition from Southern Democrats but Republican support enable the amendments to pass the House and Senate.

On July 1950, Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh declares independence from France for the second time in five years. Although Ho controls some remote territory among the Chinese border (while France controlled the remainder), Taiwan and the Soviet Union recognize the People’s Republic of Vietnam. Thus, the Indochina War begins. Pepper’s "containment policy" calls for opposition to Communist expansion, and leads the U.S. to continue to recognize French rule, support the French client government, and increase aid to Vietnam. However, a basic dispute emerges: the Americans want a strong and independent Vietnam, while the French care little about containing China but instead wants to suppress local nationalism and integrate Indochina into the French Union.

At a National Press Club speech in Washington, Senator Joseph McCarthy reveals that he has a list of over 200 suspected Communist agents working in the State Department, most of whom responsible for the birth of a Communist country in Vietnam.

In September, President Pepper issues an executive order ending all discrimination against minorities serving in the military. Enraged, a few Southern Congressmen demand the impeachment of  Pepper. Their cries are easily dismissed.

The 1950 Congressional Elections
President Pepper’s civil rights record and cuts in defense spending hurt him in the South. Strom Thurmond and the States Rights Party take advantage and they are the big winners in the mid-term elections.

House Results
Republicans   197 (+28)
Democrats   162 (-103)
States Rights     76 (+76)
Progressives       0 (-1)

Senate Results
Democrats   44 (-20)
Republicans   36 (+4)
States Rights   16 (+16)

In Illinois, former Rep Everett M. Dirksen defeats incumbent Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas. In California, Rep Richard Nixon defeats Rep Helen Douglas for the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Sheridan Downey.

Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina defeats incumbent Senator Olin Johnston in South Carolina. States Rights Democrats win both Senate elections in North Carolina: State Supreme Court Justice Sam Ervin defeats incumbent Clyde Hoey to win the regular six year term, and Willis Smith defeats appointed Senator Frank Graham in a negative campaign that was managed by a 29 year old journalist named Jesse Helms.

The States Rights and Republican parties reach an agreement to elect Rep Joseph Martin (R-MA) Speaker of the House and Kenneth Wherry (R-NE) as Senate Majority Leader.

At a January 7, 1951 meeting with Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders at the White House, President Pepper tells them he wants to teach the Dixiecrat defectors a lesson by submitting a civil rights bill. Senators Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) and Kenneth Wherry say they would support such a bill. So would House Minority Leader Sam Rayburn (D-TX) and Senator Robert Taft (R-OH), whose influence is so strong in his party he is known as Mr. Republican. But Speaker Joseph Martin says he will not allow a civil rights bill to come to a vote, killing its chance in the Congressional session of 1951-1952.

Four years after it failed to pass, both houses of Congress pass the Taft-Hartley Act on June 19. The bill significantly limits the powers held by labor unions. President Pepper vetoes the legislation, but the House and Senate have the two-thirds vote to override the veto and it becomes law.

The 1952 Presidential Campaign
Gridlock in Congress and a recession drop President Pepper’s job approval ratings to 40%. Yet, he decides to seek re-election to a third term. Vice President Harry Truman decides to retire from politics after the elections.

The 1952 Democratic National Convention
The Democrats renominate President Pepper over token opposition at their convention in Chicago. Pepper selects former Major League Baseball Commissioner and former US Senator Albert “Happy” Chandler as his running mate.

The 1952 Republican National Convention
The Republicans nominate Dwight Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in World War II. To appease supporters of Senator Robert Taft, Eisenhower selects Senator Richard Nixon as his running mate.

The 1952 States Rights National Convention
The Dixiecrats hold their convention in Charleston, South Carolina and unanimously nominate Senator Strom Thurmond for President. His running mate is Senator John Sparkman of Alabama.

The 1952 Presidential Election
President Pepper is unable to convince the country to give him a third term. After 20 years with a Democrat in the White House, Americans elect Dwight Eisenhower the 34th President of the United States.


 



Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Nixon (R) 430 EV, 54% PV
Strom Thurmond/John Sparkman (SR) 73 EV, 18% PV
Claude Pepper/Albert Chandler (D) 28 EV, 28% PV

The 1952 Congressional Elections

House Results
Republicans   215 (+18)
Democrats   140 (-22)
States Rights     80 (+4)

Senate Results
Democrats   34 (-10)
Republicans   46 (+10)
States Rights   16 (-)

Eisenhower’s coattails result in more Republican gains in the election. Republicans maintain control of both houses of Congress with help from their Southern allies in the States Rights party.

In Texas, State Attorney General Price Daniel is elected that state’s first US Senator from the States Rights Party. In Tennessee, Rep Albert Gore Sr. defeats States Rights incumbent Senator Kenneth McKellar in an upset.

In Massachusetts, Rep Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. defeats incumbent Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. His younger brother John F. Kennedy is elected to his House seat.

[Historia Crux]

Uh, whats with the map?

[Eleden]

Uh, whats with the map?

I'm gonna go out a limb here and say that there was no third party options in the 1952 "calculator" map.  He probably copied the map to Paint and tried to adjust the colors himself. 

[Хahar 🤔]

Fixed:

[Captain Chaos]

Thanks for fixing the 1952 map. Come to think of it, I could have used the 1960 map since there was a slate of unpledge electors on the state ballots in OTL 1960.

I will be taking a break from writing alternate history and enjoy the extended Labor Day weekend. I will continue this TL next week though.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Is Austria made independent? Any such move would have provoked a huge backlash.

Austria? You're kidding!

Well, g'day, mate. What do you say we throw a few shrimp on the barbie?

 

[Hash]

Stop trolling jmfcst.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Stop trolling jmfcst.

just trying to give Xahar some more geography jokes to put in this sig.  He seems to like them

[Хahar 🤔]

Stop trolling jmfcst.

just trying to give Xahar some more geography jokes to put in this sig.  He seems to like them

Intentional ones aren't funny.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Stop trolling jmfcst.

just trying to give Xahar some more geography jokes to put in this sig.  He seems to like them

Intentional ones aren't funny.

unintentionally gullible people aren't either

[Captain Chaos]

All rights, ladies and gentlemen. I now present the Eisenhower administration.
 



The First Term of Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1957)

Dwight Eisenhower is sworn in as the 34th President of the United States on January 20, 1953. During his inaugural speech, he remarks: “The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing challenge. We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.”

President Eisenhower’s first order of business is to continue all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security. He expands its programs and rolls them into a new cabinet-level agency, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional ten million workers. Eisenhower names Oveta Culp Hobby, a Democrat, as the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

While Eisenhower termed this reorganization as dynamic conservatism, a few Republicans differ. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona denounces Eisenhower’s first budget as a “dime store New Deal.”

On June 5, Lavrenti Beria is ousted as leader of the Soviet Union in a coup led by Nikita Khrushchev and Georgi Malenkov. Khrushchev orders Beria’s execution and becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the USSR.

On May 7, 1954, French forces wipe out Viet Minh troops at Dien Bien Phu, despite aid coming from Communist Taiwan. With the Communist leaders of the world failing in the last ten years to take Eastern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, East Asia and now Southeast Asia, the post-World War II decade has not been a good one for the Reds. Nikita Khrushchev in Russia and Deng Xiaoping in Taiwan are the only Communist rulers in the world.

The 1954 Congressional Elections
The Democrats regain both houses of Congress without the help form their former Southern base. Despite holding the White House, the Republicans are unable to capitalize on the popularity of President Eisenhower.

House Results
Democrats   218 (+78)
Republicans   125 (-90)
States Rights     92 (+12)

Senate Results
Democrats   49 (+15)
Republicans   32 (-14)
States Rights   15 (-1)

With Democrats back in the majority, Sam Rayburn (D-TX) returns as Speaker of the House and Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) becomes the new Majority Leader.

When the Congress convenes on January 3, 1955, Strom Thurmond, Leader of the States Rights Party in the Senate, invites the remaining Congressional Republicans into the new Conservative Party, led for now by Southerners. Most of the Republicans, including recently censured Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, join him. The remaining Republicans are the third largest party in each chamber. The only Republicans remaining in the Senate are Everett Dirksen of Illinois, newly-elected Norris Cotton of New Hampshire, Prescott Bush of Connecticut, Margaret Chase Smith and Owen Brewster of Maine, Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts, George Aiken and Ralph Flanders of Vermont, Clifford Case of New Jersey, and William Knowland and Thomas Kuchel of California. Knowland had gone into the 1954 elections thinking he would be Majority Leader of at least 50 Republicans. Now, he is Leader of eleven.

The revised makeup of Congress is as follows.

House
Democrats   218
Conservatives   165
Republicans     52

Senate
Democrats     49
Conservatives     36
Republicans     11

On March 1, Fidel Castro ends his rebellion to overthrow Cuban President Fulgencio Batista and accepts a $5,000 bonus to pitch for the New York Giants, the defending World Champions. He is assigned to their top minor league team, the Minneapolis Millers.

On June 29, 1956, Congress passes and President Eisenhower signs legislation amending the Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956. The bill amends the Federal Highway Act of 1945 and provides for the creation of a Highway Trust Fund to accelerate construction of the Interstate System.

The 1956 Presidential Campaign
President Eisenhower enters the year with job approval ratings reaching 70 percent. He is favored to win re-election despite the Republicans reduced to a third party

The 1956 Democratic National Convention
The Democrats nominate Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson for President and Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, one of the few remaining Democrats in the Senate, for Vice President. Stevenson asked the delegates to select his running mate. Senator Joseph Kennedy Jr. declared his candidacy for Vice President against the wish of his father and came close to winning that nomination but most of the Southern Democrats were uncomfortable putting a Roman Catholic on the ticket.

The 1956 Republican National Convention
The Republicans re-nominate President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon.

The 1956 Conservative National Convention
The first National Convention of the Conservative party meets in Phoenix, Arizona. With solid support from the South, Senator Strom Thurmond is nominated for President on the first ballot. To appeal to former Republicans, Thurmond selects Governor J. Bracken Lee of Utah..

The 1956 Presidential Election
It is no contest. President Dwight Eisenhower is easily re-elected to his second term.

 
Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Nixon (R) 418 EV, 55% PV
Adlai Stevenson/Estes Kefauver (D) 66 EV, 37% PV
Strom Thurmond/J. Bracken Lee (C) 47 EV, 8% PV

The 1956 Congressional Elections
The Democrats retain their majorities in both houses of Congress and the Conservatives maintain their status as the official opposition party.

House Results
Democrats    228 (+10)
Conservatives   158 (-7)
Republicans     49 (-3)

Senate Results
Democrats      50 (+1)
Conservatives     34 (-2)
Republicans     12 (+1)

The Democrats gain Senate seats when Frank Church defeats incumbent Senator Herman Welker (C-ID) and Governor Frank Lausche of Ohio is elected to the Senate seat held by the late Robert Taft. In New York State, Attorney General and former Congressman Jacob Javits defeats New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. to gain a seat for the Republicans.