WI: Stevenson defeated Eisenhower in 1952

- No Dulles brothers.

- Would Stevenson appoint Earl Warren or someone else to be Chief Justice?

- What becomes of Nixon?

- Would anything else change?
 
Stevenson could have beaten Taft, but not Ike. Eisenhower was just too popular, and the Democrats were just too unpopular, for Stevenson to beat him. Even if Nixon had been dropped from the ticket over the slush fund, Ike would've beaten Stevenson albeit more narrowly.
 
Sparkman as vice president, if Stevenson dies during the start of the civil rights movement he would set it back
 
This is really hard to do, given Ike's popularity and Truman's extreme unpopularity which to some extent had to rub off on Stevenson.

If somehow Stevenson beats Ike, Nixon remains a senator. Whether he can be re-elected in 1956 depends of course in part on how popular the Stevenson administration is in that year.

Stevenson's most likely choice for his first Supreme Court appointment: Walter V. Schaefer http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-17-8602130291-story.html
 
Eisenhower seemed to be under the impression that Nixon's fund scandal would sink the ticket, considering the Republicans were running on, in large part, an anti-corruption campaign. Of course, this didn't turn out to be the case, what with the Checkers Speech. But, even in the case Nixon rolls over and resigns right away, the Eisenhower ticket is still likely to win, albeit in a much closer race.

That does raise another interesting question. Due to Eisenhower's lukewarm response to the Checkers Speech, Nixon nearly resigned after the Checkers Speech under the belief that if an overwhelmingly popular public address wasn't good enough for Eisenhower, then he might as well take his ball and go home. The question is, what would be more damaging: the Vice Presidential nominee leaving the ticket in disgrace, or the Vice Presidential nominee seeing a massive upswing in support, only for him to be apparently forced out by the Presidential nominee anyway?
 
Top