WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 1952 (UP) - Dwight David Eisenhower was elected 34th president of the United States today in a landslide that cracked the "Solid South" and breached Democratic defenses across the continent.
In defeating Adlai E. Stevenson, the reluctant Democratic candidate, Eisenhower ran ahead of his ticket. His party will control the House by a slim margin - as few as six votes - but may be faced with a Democratic Senate.
The United Press popular vote tabulation gave Eisenhower 29,205,273 to 23,500,382 for Stevenson, indicating this electoral college division:
Eisenhower 442; Stevenson 89.
Eisenhower, therefore won by more than five million popular votes and carried 39 states. He lost only nine in the South and West Virginia and held Tennessee, where the vote was tight and incomplete. The Republican sweep took Texas, Virginia and Florida away from the Democrats.
It was the first Republican breakthrough in Dixie since Herbert Hoover won five southern states in 1928.
The 1952 electoral result paralleled the 1928 returns which gave Herbert Hoover 444 and Al Smith 87.
In the House races, 202 Republicans were definitely elected and 22 others were leading, for a 224 total. A bare majority is 218.
For the Democrats 194 were winners and 16 more were leading.
Frazier Reams of Ohio won re-election in the House as an independent.
The outcome in the Senate hinged on close races in Michigan and New Mexico. In Michigan, Sen. Blair Moody and Cong. Charles Potter were neck and neck. The winner was anybody's guess. The latest count: Potter 1,179,300; Moody 1,154,614.
In New Mexico, Sen. Dennis Chavez and Gen. Patrick Hurley also were neck and neck. The latest returns put Chavez ahead, 90,544 to 88,496 - a 2,100-vote margin - with 230 precincts out of 894 still unreported.
Not counting these two races but including the holdovers the Senate lineup is: Democrats 46, Republicans 47 and Sen. Wayne Morse, who bolted the GOP and now considers himself an independent.
The Eisenhower landslide upset some notable Administration figures in the Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Ernest W. McFarland lost in Arizona to Barry M. Goldwater, Sen. William Benton, a Fair Deal wheelhorse, lost in Connecticut to William A. Purtell.
This was the second straight election in which the Democrats lost their Senate leader. Scott W. Lucas lost two years ago to Republican Everett M. Dirksen.
Eisenhower's victory was not without its irony, however. In Massachusetts his pre-convention manager, Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., lost to Democrat John F. Kennedy.
Stevenson conceded at 1:45 a.m. EST. He telegraphed Eisenhower congratulations and best wishes.
"That you may be the servant and guardian of peace and make the vale of trouble a door of hope, here's my earnest prayer," said his telegram from Springfield, Ill.
The governor lost with a smile.
Eisenhower telegraphed his thanks to Stevenson. To campaign workers the winner said:
"Never shall I shrink or give short weight to these responsibilities. This is a time for all Americans to unite...."
Eisenhower and his family are off by airplane today for Augusta, Ga., for 10 days rest and golf, accompanied - since about 2 a.m. - by some newfound friends. They are the Secret Service agents who became companions and guardians of the president-elect the moment he appeared in public after Stevenson quit.
After August - Korea!
Eisenhower's aides said he would go there in late November or early December. But there are other pressing engagements. President Truman was expected today to invite Eisenhower to sit in from now on with the Cabinet and other policy-making groups. His aides would be welcomed, too.
Truman's campaign train was rolling east, whistling only routine whistles for crossings and such. The President retired at 9:30 last night. The old pro was too wise in the game of politics to have doubted the outcome after the first few thousands of votes had been tallied.
Personally, he retired undefeated.
It is 20 years since there has been a regular change of administration in Washington, 24 since the GOP last won the White House. When the job-starved GOP faithful descend on Eisenhower he'll likely wish for lesser troubles, like the Battle of the Bulge.
There are cabinet jobs to be filled, and many others. Gov. Thomas Dewey and John Foster Dulles were being talked today for secretary of state. How would Eisenhower utilize Gen. Douglas MacArthur? Or, would he - or, could he?
That would hit the Pentagon, which deep into this presidential campaign. Eighth Army Commander James A. Van Fleet in Korea got in even deeper.
But Van Fleet is okay. He was in on the right side.
Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts was an almost sure bet for the Cabinet as defense secretary or a spot of equal prominence. He lost his Senate seat to Cong. John F. Kennedy, a Democrat.
Lodge was mother hen to Eisenhower's candidacy.
Eisenhower took Stevenson's Illinois by more than 300,000 votes and apparently slipped through in Truman's Missouri.
Republicans sensed victory in the early returns, felt it midway in the counting, knew it long before Stevenson made his graceful little speech in Springfield's Leland Hotel.
Election-wise Democrats early sniffed the biscuits burning, too. It was the toughest day for them - and especially the job holders big and small - since Warren G. Harding swamped John W. Davis after Wilson's two terms.
Eisenhower ran well ahead of his party. He carried Indiana's Sen. William E. Jenner to victory over Gov. Henry F. Schricker, who had been rated the fleetest Democratic sprinter in the Middle West.
Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R., Wis.), another controversial figure, had a long and safe lead, although he trailed the ticket leaders there.
Brother Charles P. Taft failed to oust Democrat Frank J. Lausche from his job as Ohio's governor. Sen. William Benton, Connecticut, was a notable Democratic casualty, to be succeeded by Republican William A. Purtell. Sen. Harry R. Cain (R., Wash.) lost to Cong. Henry M. Jackson.
Republicans had said it was time for a change. But all the change was before election day. From the first eight votes tabulated yesterday a minute or so after midnight, Eisenhower was ahead. Stevenson could not catch him.
By the tens of thousands, by millions and tens of millions, the returns first trickled, then poured, and finally flooded in and Eisenhower kept his lead.
As the results started coming in one by one the states in which Eisenhower merely was leading shifted to the "won" column.
Big Texas left the Solid South at 4:57 p.m. The tidelands and race relations issues were paying off just as religion and prohibition tapped a jackpot 24 years ago when Herbert Hoover defeated Al Smith.
Then Oklahoma went Republican.
By 10:45 p.m., Republican National Committee Chairman Arthur E. Summerfield was claiming a landslide. In another 10 minutes, the tabulation for Virginia was indicating a Republican win.
