Who was the incumbent president or vice president on the ballot in 1952?
Truman wouldn’t run so the Dems nominated Adlai Stevenson. Repubs ran Ike. No, I’m not old enough to remember - looked it up!
You’re right! In 1952, the Republicans ran Eisenhower and Nixon; the Democrats ran Stevenson and John Sparkman. None were incumbents.
Little remembered, but Harry Truman wanted to run for the 3rd term in 1952. He was so unpopular that defeat seemed likely, especially after Ike declared as a Republican candidate.
Estes Kefauver defeated Truman in the NH primary in early March. Machine Democrats despised the reformer Kefauver. Truman persuaded the reluctant Adlai Stevenson to run.