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"S" is for South Carolinians for Eisenhower

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"S" is for South Carolinians for Eisenhower. South Carolinians for Eisenhower was formed by Columbia attorney Douglas McKay to support the candidacy of Republican presidential nominee Dwight Eisenhower. Its ranks included anti-Truman Democrats, independents, and former Dixiecrats. It secured fifty thousand signatures on petitions to place on the ballot a slate of electors pledged to Eisenhower that was separate from the slate of the regular Republican organization. Governor James F, Byrnes endorsed Eisenhower and the candidate addressed 55,000 spectators from the steps of the State House in September 1952. The outcome of the presidential election was indeed close with the Democrats winning a narrow fifty-one percent statewide victory. The near triumph of South Carolinians for Eisenhower provided evidence that there was the possibility of establishing a competitive Republican Party in the state in the future.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.