1868 Republican National Convention

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1868 Republican National Convention
1868 presidential election
Grant Oval.png Colfax Oval.png
Nominees
Grant and Colfax
Convention
Date(s)May 20–21, 1868
City Chicago, Illinois
Venue Crosby's Opera House
Candidates
Presidential nominee Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois
Vice-presidential nominee Schuyler Colfax of Indiana
  1864  ·  1872  

The 1868 Republican National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on May 20 to May 21, 1868. Ulysses S. Grant won the election and became the 18th president of the United States.

Contents

Commanding General of the U.S. Army Ulysses S. Grant was the unanimous choice of the Republican convention delegates for president. For vice president the delegates chose Speaker Schuyler Colfax, who was Grant's choice. In Grant's acceptance telegram, a letter to then President of the Republican National Convention Joseph R. Hawley, Grant said "Let us have peace",. [1]

Background

Republicans, led by their Radical faction, had scored decisive victories in the 1866 elections. If that trend continued in the 1867 elections, then the party's presidential nomination would likely go to a Radical like Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase or Senator Benjamin Wade. Chase had the support of important figures like Senator Charles Sumner and financier Jay Cooke. More moderate Republicans, such as Senator William P. Fessenden, Charles Francis Adams Jr., and The New York Times , had interpreted the 1866 elections not as a mandate for radicalism, but as a rejection of President Andrew Johnson's programs and personality; therefore, they were wary of a Radical nominee.

The Grant candidacy, though, took on momentum in the wake of the state elections in 1867. The electorate rejected the Radical Republican agenda by voting for Democratic control in the key Northern states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and by rejecting black manhood suffrage amendments in Kansas and Ohio. The election results bolstered the case of the moderate Republicans and seemed to close the door to a Radical nominee. Georges Clemenceau, a Paris Temps journalist who would later be the French premier, reported accurately that "The real victims of the victory of the Democrats are Mr. Wade and Mr. Chase."

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

As Republicans convened in Chicago in May 1868, Grant had no serious opposition for the nomination; he was nominated unanimously on the first ballot.

Presidential Balloting
Candidate1st
Grant 648
Absent2


Presidential Balloting / 2nd Day of Convention (May 21, 1868)

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

Colfax was selected for vice president on the fifth ballot. [2] Colfax was popular among Republicans for his friendly character, party loyalty, and Radical views on Reconstruction. [2] Wilson received a large amount of support from the southern delegations. [3]

Vice Presidential Ballot
1st2nd3rd4th5th (Before Shifts)5th (After Shifts)
Colfax 115145165186226541
Wade 14717017820620738
Fenton 12614413914413969
Wilson 11911410187560
Curtin 514540000
Hamlin 28302525200
Speed 2200000
Harlan 1600000
Creswell 1400000
Pomeroy 600000
Kelley 400000
Absent222222


Vice Presidential Balloting / 2nd Day of Convention (May 21, 1868)

See also

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References

  1. "Letter to Joseph R. Hawley, President National Union Republican Convention, Accepting the Presidential Nomination | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  2. 1 2 Joseph E. Delgatto, Indiana Journal Hall of Fame, Schuyler Colfax 1966
  3. Abbott 1986, p. 173.

Works cited

Preceded by
1864
Baltimore
Republican National Conventions Succeeded by
1872
Philadelphia