President Eisenhower does not seek re-election in 1956

What if Ike had decided not to seek re-election in 1956? He did have a number of health issues not the least of which was a heart attack in the Fall of 1955 only months before the start of the 56 Presidential race.
 
Interesting and not implausible premise. Let's see...by 1956, although the Cold War was an everyday presence, it wasn't as glacial as it had been in 1952 (OK, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as it was called then, still had the Doomsday Clock at 11:58 but things weren't as grim as they had been); McCarthy was in eclipse and would be dead within approximately a year; the economy was doing pretty well. On the surface, Ike could pretty much name a successor although that wouldn't be his style.

Would Nixon be the nominee? My gut instinct is no. Ike would probably throw his influence (quietly, of course) behind someone else: guessing a third time around for Dewey. This time, with the entire party lined up behind him and Ike's prestige backing him, I think Dewey carries it off. Perhaps Nixon would remain as VP with the tacit understanding that it would be a steppingstone for '64.

A Dewey administration from 1957 onward would presumably be similar to a second Ike term, albeit perhaps with a bit more emphasis on the northeastern establishment / Wall Street. Expect Foster Dulles to continue as SecState; perhaps Henry Cabot Lodge Jr would join the cabinet (maybe as Brownell's successor at Justice?). In any event, with Dewey in the Oval Office, perhaps civil rights might have been accelerated modestly with respect to OTL: I could see him sending troops to keep order in Little Rock, and taking a somewhat more hands-on approach.

Dewey might have some difficulty in re-election in '60, assuming there's still a recession in '58. But even if he faces John Kennedy, and even with his near-zero icy personality, he still has an incumbent's advantage. I'd look for another squeaker in '60, but this time with Kennedy and all the Cook County (IL) tombstones on the (just barely) losing side.

The Dewey presidency would, IMO, forestall a shift toward the right of the GOP, and at least prolong the control of the party by the northeastern moderates. Nixon in '64 would be acceptable/tolerable to both factions, particularly if teamed up with someone like Bill Scranton.

That could prove a fascinating, if particularly dirty, election: Nixon vs. Lyndon Johnson, since Kennedy might well still be licking his wounds from '60. Either way, the loser would have trouble keeping a straight face in the concession speech, all the while itching to call his opponent something like "...that son of a bitch..." for openers. You can bet that would have as much mud-slinging as 1928 as a minimum.
 
Interesting Question...

If Ike opted not to run in 1956, the question is the timing of such an announcement and how much control Ike would have over the nominating process. Ike's cabinet was composed of mostly businessmen who had not previously sought or held elective office. Ike would not have been able to persuade the GOP to nominate his favorite cabinet member, conservative Texas Democrat Robert B. Anderson

By 1955, Senator Robert Taft was dead and Senator Joe McCarthy had been disgraced. Nelson Rockefeller had not been elected to anything up to that point. Goldwater was a freshman senator and largely unknown at that point. Dewey had stepped down as Governor of New York, after declining to run again 1954, and was making money as an influential Wall Street attorney.

Assuming Ike announced in late 1955 that he was not a candidate for re-election in 1956, Vice-President Richard Nixon, Republican Senate Leader William "Big Bill" Knowland, Harold Stassen and perhaps a few others would have likely run in the primaries. Though still young enough to do so, I doubt Dewey would have sought the GOP nomination for a fourth time in 1956.

Ike hated Knowland, who would have been the candidate of the GOP's conservative wing. Stassen was unlikely to get anywhere himself, but would try to be a spoiler for Nixon in 1956 as in OTL. As in 1960, Ike may have had to eventually settle on supporting Nixon, who was the best known Republican candidate and who would have certainly run strong in the 1956 GOP primaries given his broad support within the Republican Party.

On the Democratic side, Ike's announcement would likely result in a large number of Democratic Senators and Governors seeking the nomination...since it would be worth something without the unbeatable Eisenhower leading the Republican ticket. Gov. Stevenson and Sen. Kefauver would run, as in OTL, but also NY Gov. Averell Harriman, LBJ and maybe Humphery. JFK would angle for the Veep spot, perhaps by supporting LBJ in 1956 as the Kennedys had been inclined to do in OTL.
 
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