1952 United States presidential election in North Carolina

1952 United States presidential election in North Carolina
All 14 North Carolina votes to the Electoral College
Stevenson 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% 90-100%	Eisenhower 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
President before election; Harry S. Truman; Democratic	Elected President ; Dwight D. Eisenhower; Republican

The 1952 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 4, 1952, as part of the 1952 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 14^[3] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Background[]

As a former Confederate state, North Carolina had a history of Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement of its African-American population and dominance of the Democratic Party in state politics. However, unlike the Deep South, the Republican Party had sufficient historic Unionist white support from the mountains and northwestern Piedmont to gain one-third of the statewide vote total in most general elections,^[4] where turnout was higher than elsewhere in the former Confederacy due substantially to the state's early abolition of the poll tax in 1920.^[5] Like Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, the relative strength of Republican opposition meant that North Carolina did not have statewide white primaries, although certain counties did use the white primary.^[6] This persistent local Republican threat from mountain Unionist descendants meant that there was never any question of the state Democratic party bolting to support Strom Thurmond.^[7] Additionally, the greatest support for Thurmond was found in middle- and upper-class urban areas of the Piedmont,^[8] so that the best Dixiecrat counties correlated strongly with the largest urban areas.^[9]

During Truman's second term, there was little satisfaction in North Carolina with the President, due to unresolved Civil Rights struggles, strikes, and evidence of corruption in the Democratic Party.^[10] At the beginning of the presidential campaign, though, there was no indication that the state would not back new Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson, and all state Democrats endorsed him.^[11] Stevenson began his campaign in the Tar Heel State in late July,^[12] but did not return to the state as it was felt by September that Republican nominee and Columbia University President Dwight D. Eisenhower had less chance than in Florida, Texas or the Dixiecrat states of Louisiana and South Carolina.^[13] Stevenson was helped by the fact that, much more than in other Southern States, North Carolina's press largely endorsed him over Eisenhower,^[13] although in mid-October one of the two largest papers was endorsing the Republican.^[14] Nonetheless, polls ten days before the election suggested Stevenson was very likely to carry the state due to the party loyalty created by viable mountain and northwest Piedmont Republican opposition.^[15]

Vote[]

Because the Black Belt of the state, unlike the economically conservative Black Belts of the Deep South, was economically more liberal than the Piedmont region where the establishment Democratic faction led since 1929 by O. Max Gardner was based,^[16] its entirely white electorate stayed exceedingly loyal to Stevenson – much more so than the Black Belts of other Outer South states. This Democratic loyalty extended to the Outer Banks, which had been a center of anti-Catholic voting when Herbert Hoover carried the state in 1928,^[9] so that apart from a seven-vote win in Brunswick County, every county Eisenhower carried was in the urban Piedmont or traditionally GOP mountains. Thus, unlike Texas, Florida and Virginia, urban middle-class Republican voting was inadequate to carry the state for Eisenhower.

North Carolina was ultimately won by Governor Stevenson with 53.91 percent of the popular vote, against Eisenhower with 46.09 percent of the popular vote.^[17]^[18] Stevenson ran with Alabama Senator John Sparkman and Eisenhower with California Senator Richard Nixon.

Results[]

1952 United States presidential election in North Carolina
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Adlai Stevenson	652,803	53.91%
	Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower	558,107	46.09%
Total votes			1,210,910	100%

Results by county[]

County	Adlai Stevenson II^[19] Democratic		Dwight David Eisenhower^[19] Republican		Margin
County	%	#	%	#	%	#
Greene	94.12%	2,976	5.88%	186	88.24%	2,790
Martin	92.98%	5,493	7.02%	415	85.95%	5,078
Bertie	90.26%	3,557	9.74%	384	80.51%	3,173
Northampton	88.14%	4,334	11.86%	583	76.29%	3,751
Franklin	87.90%	5,376	12.10%	740	75.80%	4,636
Pitt	83.65%	11,271	16.35%	2,203	67.30%	9,068
Jones	83.48%	1,673	16.52%	331	66.97%	1,342
Hertford	83.16%	2,859	16.84%	579	66.32%	2,280
Warren	81.68%	2,960	18.32%	664	63.36%	2,296
Edgecombe	81.53%	8,504	18.47%	1,927	63.05%	6,577
Halifax	79.94%	8,807	20.06%	2,210	59.88%	6,597
Nash	79.82%	10,424	20.18%	2,636	59.63%	7,788
Granville	79.72%	4,583	20.28%	1,166	59.44%	3,417
Currituck	78.04%	1,471	21.96%	414	56.07%	1,057
Gates	77.41%	1,247	22.59%	364	54.81%	883
Onslow	77.22%	4,275	22.78%	1,261	54.44%	3,014
Wilson	77.17%	8,684	22.83%	2,569	54.34%	6,115
Vance	76.80%	5,697	23.20%	1,721	53.60%	3,976
Person	75.64%	4,266	24.36%	1,374	51.28%	2,892
Duplin	75.14%	6,392	24.86%	2,115	50.28%	4,277
Lenoir	75.07%	6,723	24.93%	2,233	50.13%	4,490
Camden	74.55%	996	25.45%	340	49.10%	656
Hoke	74.08%	1,761	25.92%	616	48.17%	1,145
Chowan	72.95%	1,448	27.05%	537	45.89%	911
Caswell	72.75%	2,597	27.25%	973	45.49%	1,624
Washington	71.83%	1,974	28.17%	774	43.67%	1,200
Tyrrell	70.41%	916	29.59%	385	40.81%	531
Columbus	69.81%	6,941	30.19%	3,001	39.63%	3,940
Hyde	69.36%	919	30.64%	406	38.72%	513
Beaufort	69.31%	5,429	30.69%	2,404	38.62%	3,025
Robeson	69.29%	9,311	30.71%	4,127	38.58%	5,184
Anson	69.21%	4,143	30.79%	1,843	38.42%	2,300
Lee	69.01%	4,688	30.99%	2,105	38.02%	2,583
Richmond	68.59%	7,340	31.41%	3,361	37.18%	3,979
Craven	68.34%	6,092	31.66%	2,822	36.68%	3,270
Bladen	67.22%	3,506	32.78%	1,710	34.43%	1,796
Union	66.18%	7,416	33.82%	3,790	32.36%	3,626
Perquimans	65.91%	1,245	34.09%	644	31.82%	601
Johnston	64.81%	9,997	35.19%	5,429	29.61%	4,568
Scotland	64.68%	2,912	35.32%	1,590	29.36%	1,322
Rockingham	64.34%	12,423	35.66%	6,885	28.68%	5,538
Harnett	63.82%	7,595	36.18%	4,306	27.64%	3,289
Pender	63.78%	2,029	36.22%	1,152	27.57%	877
Pasquotank	63.01%	3,579	36.99%	2,101	26.02%	1,478
Durham	62.58%	18,897	37.42%	11,301	25.15%	7,596
Pamlico	61.26%	1,428	38.74%	903	22.52%	525
Wayne	60.96%	7,281	39.04%	4,662	21.93%	2,619
Wake	60.84%	23,393	39.16%	15,057	21.68%	8,336
Carteret	59.06%	4,280	40.94%	2,967	18.12%	1,313
Haywood	58.86%	8,761	41.14%	6,124	17.72%	2,637
Orange	57.49%	5,156	42.51%	3,813	14.97%	1,343
Cleveland	56.07%	9,709	43.93%	7,606	12.15%	2,103
Yancey	55.57%	3,693	44.43%	2,953	11.13%	740
Dare	55.56%	959	44.44%	767	11.12%	192
Chatham	54.41%	4,303	45.59%	3,606	8.81%	697
Stokes	54.29%	4,504	45.71%	3,792	8.58%	712
Cumberland	54.18%	8,839	45.82%	7,474	8.37%	1,365
Alamance	54.06%	13,402	45.94%	11,388	8.12%	2,014
Jackson	53.86%	4,296	46.14%	3,680	7.72%	616
Swain	53.71%	1,949	46.29%	1,680	7.41%	269
Graham	53.54%	1,590	46.46%	1,380	7.07%	210
New Hanover	52.54%	10,330	47.46%	9,330	5.09%	1,000
Surry	51.95%	8,206	48.05%	7,591	3.89%	615
Sampson	51.89%	6,956	48.11%	6,449	3.78%	507
Polk	51.70%	2,741	48.30%	2,561	3.39%	180
Cherokee	51.02%	3,363	48.98%	3,228	2.05%	135
Macon	50.51%	3,396	49.49%	3,327	1.03%	69
Alleghany	50.28%	1,809	49.72%	1,789	0.56%	20
McDowell	50.24%	4,755	49.76%	4,710	0.48%	45
Montgomery	49.96%	3,176	50.04%	3,181	-0.08%	-5
Brunswick	49.94%	2,951	50.06%	2,958	-0.12%	-7
Clay	49.93%	1,439	50.07%	1,443	-0.14%	-4
Ashe	49.85%	4,536	50.15%	4,563	-0.30%	-27
Moore	48.21%	5,066	51.79%	5,442	-3.58%	-376
Gaston	48.14%	17,781	51.86%	19,157	-3.73%	-1,376
Forsyth	48.14%	24,535	51.86%	26,436	-3.73%	-1,901
Rutherford	48.04%	7,755	51.96%	8,387	-3.92%	-632
Buncombe	47.85%	22,425	52.15%	24,444	-4.31%	-2,019
Transylvania	47.36%	3,641	52.64%	4,047	-5.28%	-406
Guilford	46.57%	29,028	53.43%	33,310	-6.87%	-4,282
Lincoln	46.39%	5,389	53.61%	6,228	-7.22%	-839
Caldwell	45.13%	7,533	54.87%	9,160	-9.75%	-1,627
Watauga	44.30%	3,600	55.70%	4,527	-11.41%	-927
Madison	43.55%	3,666	56.45%	4,751	-12.89%	-1,085
Davidson	43.33%	10,931	56.67%	14,299	-13.35%	-3,368
Mecklenburg	42.70%	33,044	57.30%	44,334	-14.59%	-11,290
Alexander	42.56%	2,665	57.44%	3,597	-14.88%	-932
Iredell	42.09%	8,580	57.91%	11,804	-15.82%	-3,224
Randolph	41.93%	8,975	58.07%	12,429	-16.14%	-3,454
Stanly	41.64%	7,202	58.36%	10,093	-16.72%	-2,891
Burke	41.03%	7,732	58.97%	11,113	-17.94%	-3,381
Catawba	40.73%	11,554	59.27%	16,814	-18.54%	-5,260
Rowan	39.18%	11,296	60.82%	17,535	-21.64%	-6,239
Wilkes	38.43%	7,143	61.57%	11,446	-23.15%	-4,303
Cabarrus	37.78%	9,140	62.22%	15,053	-24.44%	-5,913
Davie	37.50%	2,406	62.50%	4,010	-25.00%	-1,604
Yadkin	33.46%	2,786	66.54%	5,540	-33.08%	-2,754
Henderson	30.25%	3,803	69.75%	8,768	-39.50%	-4,965
Mitchell	23.57%	1,236	76.43%	4,009	-52.87%	-2,773
Avery	20.56%	964	79.44%	3,725	-58.88%	-2,761

References[]

^ "United States Presidential election of 1952 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved July 25, 2017.
^ "U.S. presidential election, 1952". Facts on File. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013. Eisenhower, born in Texas, considered a resident of New York, and headquartered at the time in Paris, finally decided to run for the Republican nomination
^ "1952 Election for the Forty-Second Term (1953-57)". Retrieved July 25, 2017.
^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210, 242 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
^ Key, Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 502, Alfred A. Knopf (1949)
^ Klarman, Michael J.; 'The White Primary Rulings: A Case Study in the Consequences of Supreme Court Decision-Making'; Florida State University Law Review, volume 29 (2001), pp. 55-107
^ Ader, Emile B.; 'Why the Dixiecrats Failed'; The Journal of Politics, volume 15, no. 3 (August 1953), pp. 356-369
^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 297
^ ^a ^b See Strong, Donald S.; 'The Presidential Election in the South, 1952'; The Journal of Politics, volume 17, no. 3 (August 1955), pp. 343-389
^ Grayson, A.G.; 'North Carolina and Harry Truman, 1944-1948', Journal of American Studies, volume 9, no. 3 (December 1975), pp. 283-300
^ 'Dixie Sun Smiles on Eisenihower: Ike Could Win 79 Votes in South'; Daily Boston Globe, August 3, 1952, p. C41
^ 'Democrats Expect To Win the South: Leaders Believe Sparkman Will Offset Eisenhower's Appeal to Dixie Bloc'; The New York Times, July 27, 1952, p. 38
^ ^a ^b 'South not so Solid, Press Poll Hints: Survey by the A. P. Indicates Eisenhower Might "Pull" 3 to 5 States to G.O.P.'; The New York Times, September 18, 1952, p. 19
^ 'Nominees Share 2 Papers: One in North Carolina Endorses Eisenhower, One Stevenson'; The New York Times, October 12, 1952, p. 78
^ Popham, John N.; 'Party Fealty Firm in North Carolina: State Has Remained Regular During Fair Deal and Seems Likely to Do So Now'; Special to the New York Times, October 24, 1952, p. 18
^ Key, Southern Politics in State and Nation, pp. 215-217
^ "1952 Presidential General Election Results – North Carolina". Retrieved July 25, 2017.
^ "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1952". Retrieved July 25, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Our Campaigns; NC US President Race, November 04, 1952

[1] "United States Presidential election of 1952 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved July 25, 2017.

[2] "U.S. presidential election, 1952". Facts on File. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013. Eisenhower, born in Texas, considered a resident of New York, and headquartered at the time in Paris, finally decided to run for the Republican nomination

[3] "1952 Election for the Forty-Second Term (1953-57)". Retrieved July 25, 2017.

[4] Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210, 242 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6

[5] Key, Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 502, Alfred A. Knopf (1949)

[White-6] Klarman, Michael J.; 'The White Primary Rulings: A Case Study in the Consequences of Supreme Court Decision-Making'; Florida State University Law Review, volume 29 (2001), pp. 55-107

[7] Ader, Emile B.; 'Why the Dixiecrats Failed'; The Journal of Politics, volume 15, no. 3 (August 1953), pp. 356-369

[8] Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 297

[Presidential-9] See Strong, Donald S.; 'The Presidential Election in the South, 1952'; The Journal of Politics, volume 17, no. 3 (August 1955), pp. 343-389

[Harry-10] Grayson, A.G.; 'North Carolina and Harry Truman, 1944-1948', Journal of American Studies, volume 9, no. 3 (December 1975), pp. 283-300

[11] 'Dixie Sun Smiles on Eisenihower: Ike Could Win 79 Votes in South'; Daily Boston Globe, August 3, 1952, p. C41

[12] 'Democrats Expect To Win the South: Leaders Believe Sparkman Will Offset Eisenhower's Appeal to Dixie Bloc'; The New York Times, July 27, 1952, p. 38

[notso-13] 'South not so Solid, Press Poll Hints: Survey by the A. P. Indicates Eisenhower Might "Pull" 3 to 5 States to G.O.P.'; The New York Times, September 18, 1952, p. 19

[14] 'Nominees Share 2 Papers: One in North Carolina Endorses Eisenhower, One Stevenson'; The New York Times, October 12, 1952, p. 78

[15] Popham, John N.; 'Party Fealty Firm in North Carolina: State Has Remained Regular During Fair Deal and Seems Likely to Do So Now'; Special to the New York Times, October 24, 1952, p. 18

[16] Key, Southern Politics in State and Nation, pp. 215-217

[17] "1952 Presidential General Election Results – North Carolina". Retrieved July 25, 2017.

[18] "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1952". Retrieved July 25, 2017.

[Our-19] Our Campaigns; NC US President Race, November 04, 1952

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]