The VP drama the last time America had a presidential rematch — in 1956

With the nomination of candidates for 2024 almost complete, commentator The race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is reminding us that it will be the first post-war presidential rematch. dwight eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson Showdown in 1956.

While that race was never close (Eisenhower won in a landslide, as in 1952), there is an aspect of that campaign season that may be repeated this year: the drama of choosing a running mate. is.

Given the ongoing debate over Biden’s age and fitness and her lackluster first-term performance, Democratic Party insiders are considering renominating No. 2 candidate Kamala Harris. There are serious doubts about this. Although Biden’s poll numbers are poor, Harris’ approval rating is among the highest. lowest He has previously been recorded as vice president.

Mr. Biden has supported Ms. Harris, but he hardly exudes confidence. But by 1956, Eisenhower’s relationship with Vice President Richard Nixon had become even more strained.

In the 1952 election campaign, Nixon’s candidacy got off to a rocky start. September, New York Post Suspect He controlled an $18,000 slush fund donated by a California “billionaire” who supported his lifestyle in exchange for political favors. Pressured by Mr. Ike and the Republican leadership to resign, Mr. Nixon instead redeemed himself with his famous speech. “Checkers Speech” 60 million Americans are listening or watching.

While this incident showed Nixon to be a fighter who could connect with voters in new mediums, it left Eisenhower with a permanent dissatisfaction with his running mate. “Ever since then.” concluded Eisenhower’s biographer William Hitchcock said, “Ike would treat him with suspicion and a certain contempt.”

At the end of 1955, Eisenhower proposed to Nixon that he resign and instead accept a cabinet position in the next administration. That’s exactly what Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic leadership forced incumbent Vice President Henry Wallace to do in 1944. Ike continued at this rate until 1956. And he avoided publicly supporting Nixon’s re-election bid.

Eisenhower had no clear successor in mind, but Nixon did. was acquitted He himself fared well in his first term, especially after the president’s heart attack in 1955. However, Eisenhower did not believe that the vice president was qualified to succeed him as a candidate and party leader in 1960. Like FDR, he was willing to make his colleagues squirm in the wind.

Nixon resisted the president’s urging, believing that demotion would destroy his chances of coming out on top in the 1960 elections. He also enjoyed solid support among the party’s rank and file.Despite a last-minute “dump Nixon” campaign by Republican Abu Harold Stassen, Eisenhower was tired of his own intrigues. He finally offered Nixon a lukewarm endorsement three weeks before the men were nominated at the party’s August 19 convention.

On the Democratic side, Adlai Stevenson II was not familiar with the history of selecting vice presidents in rematch years.

Amazingly, his grandfather Adlai StevensonA former assistant postmaster general, he was twice selected as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate. He was successful in a rematch between Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison in 1892, and unsuccessful in William Jennings Bryan’s second attempt against William McKinley in 1900.

Stevenson refused to ask his 1952 vice presidential candidate, Senator John J. Sparkman of Alabama, to rejoin him. Sparkman was one of many Southern congressmen and senators who signed the bill. southern declarationa minority resolution opposing federal school desegregation efforts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision..

But after being reassigned in Chicago, Stephenson made an unconventional move. He left the selection of the vice presidential candidate to the party convention. Then Sen.lyndon johnson explained It was “the stupidest, stupidest thing a politician could do.” Delegates then voted a third time to select former presidential candidate Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.

But the person most remembered from the race was the candidate who came in second place, 39-year-old John F. Kennedy.

In early 1956, there was speculation among experts that JFK’s youth, good looks, and mainstream liberalism would make him an ideal running mate for Adlai. There were concerns whether his Catholicism would be an obstacle, as it had been for Al Smith in the 1928 presidential election, or whether it would give him an electoral advantage 30 years later. Also lurking in the background was Mr. Kennedy’s poor health and history of frequent hospitalizations.

One of the opponents of his candidacy was joseph kennedy. The Kennedy family’s fearsome father viewed Eisenhower as invincible and feared that some of the Democratic Party’s defeat would be due to Jack’s religion. JFK himself was undecided until the tournament began, The New York Times reported. explained He was a “prospective Democratic vice presidential candidate” who “attended tonight’s convention as a movie star.” The chance to win on the national stage became inevitable.

By the second round of vice presidential voting, Kennedy was leading with 47 percent of delegates. However, on the third vote, fellow Tennessee senator Albert Gore, the future vice president’s father, supported Kefauver with delegates, and Kefauver ultimately won.

Kennedy was lucky to fall just short in 1956. He was introduced to America in the national spotlight, and in 1960 was able to participate in the presidential election as a newcomer, untainted by his previous defeat. In his case, Nixon’s dogged perseverance in the face of a disloyal leader would lead him to join JFK in one of the most memorable presidential campaigns of this century.

Mr. Biden may have doubts about Kamala Harris, but it will be difficult for him to force the vice president to resign like Mr. Eisenhower did in 1956. But Donald Trump’s choice of running mate remains a wild card. Like Stevenson, he previously ruled out two-time vice presidential candidate Mike Pence.

President Trump is unlikely to postpone a decision until the convention, but he remains firm when presented with the following decision: future name They include Sen. Tim Scott (R.C.), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. He will no doubt put effort into his selection process to get his attention. The script is reminiscent of the vice presidential drama in the final rematch 70 years ago.

Paul C. Atkinson, a former Wall Street Journal executive, is a contributing editor at the New York Sun.