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From March 11 to June 5, 1956, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1956 United States presidential election. Former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections^[1] and caucuses culminating in the 1956 Democratic National Convention held from August 13 to August 17, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois.^[2] This was the party's second consecutive nomination of Stevenson.^[3]

Candidates

Major candidates

These candidates participated in multiple state delegate election contests or were included in multiple major national polls.

Candidate	Most recent position	Home state	Campaign
Adlai Stevenson II	Democratic nominee for President (1952) Former Governor of Illinois (1949–53)	Illinois	(Campaign)
Estes Kefauver	U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1949–63) U.S. Representative from Tennessee (1939–49)	Tennessee	Withdrew: June 1956 (Campaign)
W. Averell Harriman	Governor of New York (1955–58) United States Secretary of Commerce (1946–48) United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1946) United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1943–46)	New York

Favorite sons

The following candidates ran only in their home state's primary or caucuses for the purpose of controlling its delegate slate at the convention and did not appear to be considered national candidates by the media.

Former Governor John S. Battle of Virginia
Governor Happy Chandler of Kentucky
U.S. Representative James C. Davis of Georgia
Governor Frank Lausche of Ohio
House Majority Leader John W. McCormack of Massachusetts
Governor George Bell Timmerman Jr. of South Carolina

Primary campaign

Estes Kefauver sought the Democratic presidential nomination, as he had in 1952. Initially, he again won some Democratic Party presidential primaries.

In the March 13, 1956 New Hampshire presidential primary, Kefauver defeated Stevenson, his only formidable opponent for the nomination, by a margin of 21,701 to 3,806.

A week later, Kefauver defeated Stevenson in the March 20, 1956 Minnesota presidential primary, winning 245,885 votes compared to Stevenson's 186,723 votes. Kefauver was also victorious in the Wisconsin presidential primary. Stevenson picked up his native Illinois in a landslide. By April 1956, "it appeared that Kefauver was on his way to a primary sweep matching the spectacular performance in 1952."^[4]

Florida primary

One of the first televised United States presidential debates was held as an hour long one-on-one debate between the party's top-two contenders, Kefauver and Stevenson.^[5]^[6] The debate was held in Miami, Florida ahead of the state's primary.^[5]^[6]

Russell Baker of The New York Times wrote that the two contenders took near-identical stances on most of the issues discussed in the debate.^[5]

California primary

The June California primary proved decisive for the nomination, delivering Stevenson a major victory and leading to the suspension of Kefauver's campaign for the nomination.

Polling

National polling

Poll source	Publication	Averell Harriman	Lyndon Baines Johnson	Estes Kefauver	Frank Lausche	Adlai Stevenson	Stuart Symington	Harry S. Truman
Gallup^[7]	Aug. 1953	–	–	17%	–	53%	1%	11%
Gallup^[7]	Aug. 1954	–	–	22%	–	57%	–	–
Gallup^[7]	Nov. 1954	4%	–	16%	2%	58%	–	–
Gallup^[7]	Mar. 1955	14%	–	48%	2%	–	5%	1%
Gallup^[7]	Apr. 1955	17%	–	37%	4%	–	3%	1%
Gallup^[7]	Aug. 1955	6%	1%	16%	–	55%	–	1%
Gallup^[7]	Oct. 1955	8%	–	16%	2%	51%	2%	–
Gallup^[7]	Nov. 1955	10%	1%	11%	1%	48%	1%	1%
Gallup^[7]	Nov. 1955	8%	–	12%	–	38%	–	–
Gallup^[7]	Dec. 1955	8%	–	17%	3%	51%	–	–
Gallup^[7]	Jan. 1956	8%	3%	17%	3%	49%	–	–
Gallup^[7]	Feb. 1956	8%	2%	18%	2%	51%	1%	–
Gallup^[7]	Apr. 1956	6%	3%	33%	2%	39%	2%	–
Gallup^[7]	Apr. 1956	6%	4%	29%	3%	41%	2%	–
Gallup^[7]	June 1956	8%	4%	26%	3%	42%	3%	–
Gallup^[7]	June 1956	12%	4%	16%	3%	45%	4%	–