Although no Republican was opposing Eisenhower, Nixon received a substantial number of write-in votes against the president in the 1956 New Hampshire primary election. In late April, the President announced that Nixon would again be his running mate.[94] Eisenhower and Nixon were reelected by a comfortable margin in the November 1956 election.[95]
In early 1957, Nixon undertook another foreign trip, this time to Africa. On his return, he helped shepherd the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through Congress. The bill was weakened in the Senate, and civil rights leaders were divided over whether Eisenhower should sign it. Nixon advised the President to sign the bill, which he did.[96] Eisenhower suffered a mild stroke in November 1957, and Nixon gave a press conference, assuring the nation that the Cabinet was functioning well as a team during Eisenhower's brief illness.[97]

Nikita Khrushchev and Nixon speak as the press looks on at the Kitchen Debate, July 24, 1959, with What's My Line? host John Charles Daly at far left
On April 27, 1958, Richard and Pat Nixon reluctantly embarked on a goodwill tour of South America. 