Eisenhower was on his way to a great reelection victory. He won 41 states to Stevenson’s 7, giving him 457 electoral votes to Stevenson’s 73. He took 57 percent of the popular vote, the biggest share since FDR’s landslide in 1936 over Alf Landon. Even in Stevenson’s home state, Illinois, Eisenhower won 60 percent of the vote. Stevenson won only states that had once been part of the Confederacy—the
