Incumbent Democratic President Harry S. Truman had remained silent about whether he would seek another full term , but the unpopular incumbent announced his withdrawal from the race following his defeat in the New Hampshire primary by Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver . After Truman 's withdrawal , the president and other party leaders threw their support behind Stevenson , the moderate Governor of Illinois . Stevenson emerged victorious on the third presidential ballot of the 1952 Democratic National Convention , defeating Kefauver , Senator Richard Russell Jr. of Georgia , and other candidates . The Republican nomination was primarily contested by conservative Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio and Eisenhower , a general who was widely popular for his leadership in World War II . With the support of Thomas E. Dewey and other party leaders , Eisenhower narrowly prevailed over Taft at the 1952 Republican National Convention . The Republicans chose Richard Nixon , a young anti-Communist Senator from California , as Eisenhower 's running mate
1952 Republican National Convention
1952 Republican National Convention
1952 United States presidential election