Harris is not newspaper’s first endorsement since 1956 | Fact check

A Sept. 30 Threads post (direct link archive link) includes a screenshot of the New York Times editorial board’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“Not since Eisenhower has the NYT endorsed a candidate, that’s how dangerous (former President Donald) Trump is to the world,” reads the post. 
It was shared more than 100 times in three days. Another version of the claim spread widely on X, formerly Twitter. 
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The newspaper has been endorsing presidential candidates since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, including in each election since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.
The claim came on the same day the New York Times editorial board endorsed Harris in the 2024 presidential race. Its editorial described Harris as the “only patriotic choice for president,” citing Trump’s many criminal charges and other factors the board deemed to be disqualifying.
But it’s far from the first time the New York Times has endorsed a candidate since Eisenhower in 1956.
The paper’s editorial board has done so in every presidential election since then, according to the newspaper itself and the American Presidency Project, an online presidential document archive from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
That includes candidates from John F. Kennedy in 1960 to President Joe Biden in 2020. Eisenhower was, however, the last Republican presidential candidate the board endorsed. The newspaper has endorsed presidential candidates since 1860.
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USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to endorsements in the 2024 presidential race, including false assertions that Taylor Swift said she regrets endorsing Harris, that Usher refused to endorse Harris on “The View” and that the Philadelphia Eagles endorsed Harris.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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