Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson for president for a second time at the 1956 National Convention in Chicago, Augst 15th. His running mate wwas Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver. Stevenson, who lost his first presidential bid in 1952 to Dwight Eisenhower, was given his second opportunity by defeating Governor Averell Harriman of New York on the first ballot. Kefauver narrowly edged out Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy for the position of Vice President.
In November, however, the Democratic ticket went down to defeat as that of Eisenhower-Nixon won a second term victory, carrying a remarkable forty-one states.