1956 Democratic Primaries.

Preconvention campaigning pitted Adlai Stevenson against Estes Kefauver, who surprised many in his own party by announcing that he would contest key primaries. No longer the shy, reluctant candidate, Stevenson had announced his candidacy in November 1955 with assurances from the Democratic kingmakers that the nomination was his for the taking. Kefauver, however, continued to stress his independence from the party machinery and officially sounded his challenge one month later. He stunned Stevenson in the New Hampshire primary and scored an even more shocking victory in Minnesota, where Stevenson had campaigned heavily with the support of Minnesota favoriteson Hubert Humphrey. Contributing to Kefauver's success was a chatty, grassroots campaign style. Buttonholing a passerby, the Tennessean would offer a firm hand-shake and drawl, "My name is Estes Kefauver. I'm running for President of the United States....