Ike Re-elected

We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

60 million Americans went to the polls in the US 1956 election to grant Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower another term in the White House. It was a “grave hour of world crisis,” but on that first Tuesday in November, Democracy reigned supreme.

On Election Eve, we visit San Francisco’s Chinatown, where all Americans reserve their right to vote. Students study sample voting ballots to make the most informed choices, while at the Laguna Honda Home, for the infirm and elderly, the polling place comes to them.

Next stop, Times Square where throngs of Americans await the results. It’s a landslide for Ike, twice defeating Adlai Stevenson for the highest seat in the land, though the Democrats still retain control of both houses of Congress.

Eisenhower would be the 34th President of the United States, with Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon as his Vice President.