Gabrielson supported Taft at the 1952 convention, and the Eisenhower forces were afraid he would tilt the close convention for the Ohio senator. However, when the chairman came forward to open the convention, both sides burst into a round of applause for Gabrielson. The 1952 convention ended Gabrielson's time as RNC chairman, and he stepped down in favor of Arthur Summerfield. He left his position as committeeman from New Jersey at the end of 1952. In 1959, Gabrielson retired from his legal practice, dissolving his firm. In his retirement, he worked for several corporations or served on their boards. He had lived from 1940 to 1975 in Bernardsville, New Jersey; he then moved to the seaside community of Mantoloking. He died in Point Pleasant, New Jersey on May 1, 1976, having outlived Cora Gabrielson by three years, and was survived by a son and daughter.