National Affairs: The Wide-Open Winner

In his moment of triumph, Nominee Adlai Stevenson announced a decision that gave the 1956 Democratic Convention its highest, wildest moments: he left the nomination of a vice-presidential candidate entirely to the will and whim of the delegates without a word about his personal choice.

The backers of Massachusetts' Senator John Kennedy, convinced that they could not get a flat endorsement from Adlai, had been trying for three days to persuade Stevenson to throw the nomination wide open. Stevenson finally gave in to their main argument: that the Democrats might be able to...

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