1956 Eisenhower VS. Stevenson

"Union Member"

Transcript

Museum of the Moving Image
The Living Room Candidate
"Union Member," Eisenhower, 1952

HOWARD GENSLER: I'm Howard Gensler, union member. I see Mr. Stevenson says the average man isn't making out so good under Eisenhower. Yeah? How does he explain pay raises? Average hourly wages are up sixteen dollars a week, and more people are working. Also, Ike's get the peace. I'm voting for President Eisenhower again.

Credits

"Union Member," Citizens for Eisenhower, 1956

Video courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012.
www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1956/union-member (accessed May 21, 2025).

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1956 Eisenhower Stevenson Results

For President Eisenhower, the only true emergency of his first term was the heart attack he suffered in September 1955. After his doctor pronounced him fully recovered in February 1956, Eisenhower announced his decision to run for re-election. The Democrats set up a replay of the 1952 contest by nominating Adlai Stevenson. The result was an even greater Republican landslide. Eisenhower was a popular incumbent president who had ended the Korean War. Two world crises helped cement his lead in the final days of the campaign: the Soviet Union invaded Hungary, and Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt in an effort to take over the Suez Canal. Eisenhower kept the United States out of both conflicts. As is traditional during a military crisis, American voters rallied behind their president. The events also undermined two of Stevenson’s key positions: the suspension of hydrogen-bomb testing and the elimination of the military draft.

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