Oct. 10, 1956: Before his second election, incumbent President Eisenhower visited Pittsburgh to deliver a nationally televised speech from the Hunt Armory. “150,000 Cheer Ike in Roaring Welcome,” read the Pittsburgh Press headline that day. “Even political cynics admitted it was the greatest welcome here since Franklin D. Roosevelt wowed Pittsburgh back in the 1930s.”
“Members of the White House press corps said it was far and away the biggest crowd he had drawn in this campaign. One newsman, familiar with Pittsburgh’s voting pattern, cracked: ‘And just think… most of these people are Democrats.’”
“If cheers were votes,” Pittsburgh Press wrote that day, “Allegheny County Republicans today could definitely predict a resounding victory here for Dwight Eisenhower.”
The excitement and enthusiasm were so great that President Eisenhower forgot to retrieve his coat from a hook at the Hunt Amory. The president’s motorcade was halfway to the airport when word reached Police Supt. James W. Slusser about Mr. President’s missing coat. The Pittsburgh Press reported: ”Ike off for home in a woven tweed coat borrowed from another Secret Service man in his party.”
On Nov. 6, President Eisenhower once again defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in a landslide.
(Pittsburgh Press photo)
