The Republican Party nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for president on July 11, 1952, in Chicago. On that day, and for several weeks afterward, he was not a registered Republican because he was not a registered voter.

Kevin M. Bailey of the Eisenhower Presidential Library has kindly furnished me with a copy of a New York Attorney General’s Opinion from the fall of 1952. The 6-page ruling says that Eisenhower and his wife Mamie are legally entitled to register to vote at 60 Morningside Drive, Manhattan, which is the official residence of the President of Columbia University. The document reviews the Eisenhower history of voter registration in New York. It says the Eisenhowers registered in New York for the first time in 1949, at that Morningside address, and that he was an independent. It says that in 1950 he again registered to vote at that address as an independent (back then, New York voters had to register every year). It says that he did not register to vote in 1951, because by then he and his wife were living in Europe, while he was head of NATO military forces.

When the opinion was issued, the Eisenhowers desired to register in New York again, and weren’t sure if they could use the Morningside address. The purpose of the opinion was to say that they could use that address. Their belongings had continued to be stored at that address. The opinion says the Eisenhowers are free to register at their precinct during the period October 6 through October 11, 1952. Also, if they wanted to register to vote beforehand, they could do so at the Office of the Board of Elections.