alternatehistory.com

As we all know, Adlai Stevenson was (for god knows what reason) chosen to be the Democrats' Presidential nominee in 1956 even though he'd lost just 4 years before to Eisenhower, against whom he was again running.

So what if Adlai had decided to sit this one out, maybe due to a more crushing loss in '52 or for health reasons or whatever reason you'd like. Who'd get the Dems' nod? Harriman seems to be the most likely to nab the nomination, but I wonder whether Johnson or Symington or Kefauver would try to go for the top spot.

This also has interesting effects on the VP nomination. Without Stevenson's "free vote," the nominee would likely have chosen his own running mate, which would probably go better since you'd likely have the traditional/more appealing Eastern-Southern ticket instead of OTL's Midwestern-Southern.

This could very much change JFK's career as his rise will likely not be as meteoric as, prior to the VP balloting, he was a relative unknown. Yet if he is chosen, he'll be tarred with the brush of being on a losing ticket.
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