in abilene, kansas, came a man, dwight d. eisenhower. >> he had a tough fight getting the republican nomination because robert taft represented the hard conservative wing of the republican party. they slugged it out a little bit. but in '52, eisenhower, of course, gets the nomination. >> for president of the united states, dwight david eisenhower. [ cheers and applause ] >> as his running mate, ike chose someone to balance the ticket, senator richard nixon of california, young and fiercely anti-communist. >> ♪ you like ike ♪ i like ike ♪ everybody likes ike ♪ for president >> eisenhower, facing his democratic opponent, adlai stevenson, won in a landslide. >> so help me god. >> on inauguration day, eisenhower came walking down. and i said, "mr. president, may i take a picture?" the flashbulb didn't work. he stopped. and he said, "fix the flashbulb