1920 Republican National Convention

Last updated
1920 Republican National Convention
1920 presidential election
RP1920.png RV1920.png
Nominees
Harding and Coolidge
Convention
Date(s)June 8–12, 1920
City Chicago, Illinois
Venue Chicago Coliseum
Candidates
Presidential nominee Warren G. Harding
of Ohio
Vice presidential nominee Calvin Coolidge
of Massachusetts
Voting
Total delegates984
Votes needed for nomination493
Ballots10
‹  1916  ·  1924  ›

The 1920 Republican National Convention nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for president and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge for vice president. The convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Chicago Coliseum from June 8 to June 12, 1920, with 940 delegates. Under convention rules, a majority plus one, or at least 471 of the 940 delegates, was necessary for a nomination.

Contents

Many Republicans sought the presidential nomination, including General Leonard Wood, Illinois Governor Frank Lowden and California Senator Hiram Johnson. Dark horse Harding, however, was nominated. Many wanted to nominate Wisconsin Senator Irvine L. Lenroot for vice president, but Coolidge was nominated instead, because he was known for his response to the Boston Police Strike in 1919. [1]

The convention also adopted a platform opposed to the accession of the United States to the League of Nations. [2] The plank was carefully drawn up by Henry Cabot Lodge to appease opponents of the League such as Johnson, while still allowing eventual American entry into the League. [3]

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Potential or declined candidates

[4]

Delegates gathered on the convention floor Party banner decorating the balcony 276036v (cropped).jpg
Delegates gathered on the convention floor

At the start of the convention, the race was wide open. [5] General Leonard Wood, Illinois Governor Frank Lowden, and California Senator Hiram Johnson were considered the three most likely nominees. [6] Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding had been a front-runner, but his star had faded by the time of the convention. [6] Many expected a dark horse to be chosen, such as Pennsylvania Governor William Cameron Sproul, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Kansas Governor Henry Justin Allen, Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, or 1916 nominee Charles Evans Hughes. [5] Sproul in particular had been gaining momentum at the expense of Lowden, the candidate of the conservative wing of the party. [6] The issue of joining the League of Nations took center stage at the convention, with some speculating that Johnson would bolt the party if the platform endorsed the League. [6] The convention adjourned for the night after four ballots produced no clear leader, and many states stuck to favorite-son candidates. [7]

Inside the convention hall Republican National Convention, 1920 LCCN2007663528 (cropped1).jpg
Inside the convention hall

As the balloting continued the next day, Wood, Lowden, and Johnson remained in the lead, and party leaders worked to find a candidate acceptable to both the progressive and conservative wings of the party. [8] Conservatives strongly opposed Wood, while Lowden was opposed by the progressive wing of the party. [8] Harding emerged as a moderately conservative candidate acceptable to the progressive wing of the party, and as the convention remained deadlocked, Harding emerged as a strong compromise candidate. [8] After the eighth ballot, the convention recessed. During the recess, Harding's managers lobbied Lowden's supporters and others to support Harding. [8] Harding was also helped by the fact that the Democrats might nominate James M. Cox of Ohio, and Republicans did not want to give the Democrats a home state advantage in electorally critical Ohio. [9]

After being nominated, Harding delivers an acceptance speech from the front porch of his home Harding front porch campaign.jpg
After being nominated, Harding delivers an acceptance speech from the front porch of his home

Harding jumped into the lead on the ninth ballot, and clinched the nomination on the tenth ballot. Many thought that Johnson could have stopped the Harding movement by throwing his support behind Knox, who could have displaced Harding as the compromise candidate. Johnson disliked Harding's policies and disliked Harding personally, and was friends with Knox. However, Johnson never released his supporters, and Harding took the nomination. [8] [9]

Presidential Balloting
Candidate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th [lower-alpha 1] 10th [lower-alpha 2] Unanimous
Harding 65.55958.561.57889105133.5374.5644.7692.2984
Wood 287.5289.5303314.5299311.5312299249181.5156
Lowden 211.5259.5282.5289303311.5311.5307121.52811
Johnson 133.5146148140.5133.511099.5878280.880.8
Sproul 8478.579.579.582.5777675.57800
Butler 69.54125204422222
Coolidge 34322725292828302855
La Follette 2424242224242424242424
Pritchard 2110000000000
Poindexter 20151515151515151420
Sutherland 1715931000000
Hoover 5.55.55.556545610.59.5
du Pont 77226433000
Watson 00240100000
Borah 21110000000
Knox 01221111111
Ward 00001210000
Hays 00000000111
Kellogg 00001111000
Lenroot 00000011111
MacGregor 00000000100
Warren 10000000000
Not Voting1000000012.50.5
  1. ↑ before shifts
  2. ↑ after shifts


Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 11, 1920)


Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (June 12, 1920)

The smoke-filled room

At the time, Harding's nomination was said to have been secured in negotiations led by party bosses George Harvey and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in a mysterious "smoke-filled room" at Chicago's Blackstone Hotel." Legend says Harry M. Daugherty, Harding's political manager was the mastermind. After Harding's election he became United States Attorney General. On February 11, 1920, long before the convention, Daugherty predicted:

I don't expect Senator Harding to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can afford to take chances that about 11 minutes after two, Friday morning of the convention, when 15 or 12 weary men are sitting around a table, someone will say: 'Who will we nominate?' At that decisive time, the friends of Harding will suggest him and we can well afford to abide by the result." [10]

Daugherty's prediction described essentially what occurred, but historians argue that Daugherty's prediction has been given too much weight in narratives of the convention. [11] The "smoke filled room" was actually a suite rented by National Chairman Will H. Hays. For six hours the leaders considered numerous alternatives, including Wood, Lowden, and Johnson. However, there were objections to all of them. Headlines in the next morning newspapers suggested intrigue. Historian Wesley M. Bagby argues, "Various groups actually worked along separate lines to bring about the nomination - without combination and with very little contact." Bagby finds that the key factor in Harding's nomination was his wide popularity among the rank and file of the delegates. [12]

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Before Harding was nominated, Johnson, Kansas Governor Henry Justin Allen, Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, Wisconsin Senator Irvine Lenroot, Kentucky Governor Edwin P. Morrow, and Harding himself were all seen as possible vice presidential nominees. [8] Once the presidential nomination was finally settled, Harding and the party bosses asked Johnson to join the ticket as a progressive balance to Harding. [13] When Johnson turned down the offer, they approached Lenroot, who accepted. [13] However, when Illinois Senator Medill McCormick stood up to nominate Lenroot, several delegates began to shout for Coolidge. [13] Though initially he had only been nominated after the refusal of Senator Lodge (another Massachusetts man), a groundswell of support built up for Coolidge, who won the nomination over Lenroot; historian Donald R. McCoy called it the first time since the 1880 nomination of James Garfield that "the delegates had taken control of a Republican convention". [14] Coolidge, who was not at the convention during the vice presidential nomination, agreed to join the ticket. [13]

Vice Presidential Balloting [15]
Candidate1stUnanimous
Coolidge 674.5984
Lenroot 146.5
Allen 68.5
Anderson 28
Gronna 24
Johnson 22.5
Pritchard 11
Not Voting9


Vice Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (June 12, 1920)

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Coolidge</span> President of the United States from 1923 to 1929

    Calvin Coolidge was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren G. Harding</span> President of the United States from 1921 to 1923

    Warren Gamaliel Harding was an American politician who served as the 29th president of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. After his death, a number of scandals were exposed, including Teapot Dome, as well as an extramarital affair with Nan Britton, which tarnished his reputation.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 United States presidential election</span> 34th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

    The 1920 United States presidential election was the 34th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1920. In the first election held after the end of the First World War and the first election after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, Republican Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio defeated Democratic Governor James M. Cox of Ohio. It was also the third presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in 1860, 1904, 1940, 1944, and 2016.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1924 United States presidential election</span> 35th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

    The 1924 United States presidential election was the 35th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1924. In a three-way contest, incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge won election to a full term. Coolidge was the second vice president to ascend to the presidency and then win a full term.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1928 United States presidential election</span> 36th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

    The 1928 United States presidential election was the 36th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1928. Republican former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover defeated the Democratic nominee, Governor Al Smith of New York. After President Calvin Coolidge declined to seek reelection, Hoover emerged as his party's frontrunner. As Hoover's party opponents failed to unite around a candidate, Hoover received a large majority of the vote at the 1928 Republican National Convention. The strong state of the economy discouraged some Democrats from running, and Smith was nominated on the first ballot of the 1928 Democratic National Convention. Hoover and Smith had been widely known as potential presidential candidates long before the 1928 campaign, and both were generally regarded as outstanding leaders. Both were newcomers to the presidential race and presented in their person and record an appeal of unknown potency to the electorate. Both faced serious discontent within their respective parties' membership, and both lacked the wholehearted support of their parties' organization.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry M. Daugherty</span> American politician (1860–1941)

    Harry Micajah Daugherty was an American politician. A key Republican political insider from Ohio, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, as well as for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal during Harding's presidency.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvine Lenroot</span> American politician and jurist (1869–1949)

    Irvine Luther Lenroot was an American attorney, jurist, and Republican Party politician from Wisconsin. He served as Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1903 to 1907 and represented the state in the United States Congress from 1909 to 1927, first in the United States House of Representatives until 1918, and then in the United States Senate. After he lost the Republican nomination in 1926, Herbert Hoover nominated him to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank O. Lowden</span> American politician (1861–1943)

    Frank Orren Lowden was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 25th Governor of Illinois and as a United States Representative from Illinois. He was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in 1920 and 1928.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1928 Republican National Convention</span> American political convention

    The 1928 Republican National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1924 Republican National Convention</span> American political convention

    The 1924 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Public Auditorium, from June 10 to 12.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1856 Republican National Convention</span> Political nominating convention

    The 1856 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 17 to June 19, 1856, at Musical Fund Hall at 808 Locust Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first national nominating convention of the Republican Party, founded two years earlier in 1854. It was held to nominate the party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1856 election. The convention selected John C. Frémont, a former United States Senator from California, for president, and former Senator William L. Dayton of New Jersey for vice president. The convention also appointed members of the newly established Republican National Committee.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 Republican National Convention</span> Political convention of the Republican Party

    The 1960 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 25 to July 28, 1960, at the International Amphitheatre. It was the 14th and most recent time overall that Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention, more times than any other city.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1932 Republican National Convention</span> American political convention

    The 1932 Republican National Convention was held at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, from June 14 to June 16, 1932. It nominated President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis for reelection.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1916 Republican National Convention</span> American political convention

    The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago from June 7 to June 10. A major goal of the party's bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the 1912 presidential campaign. In that year, Theodore Roosevelt bolted the GOP and formed his own political party, the Progressive Party, which contained most of the GOP's liberals. William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, won the nomination of the regular Republican Party. This split in the GOP ranks divided the Republican vote and led to the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace McCamant</span> American judge (1867–1944)

    Wallace McCamant was an American jurist in Oregon. A Pennsylvania native, he served as the 46th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1917 to 1918. Later he served briefly as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1920, McCamant surprised the GOP leadership by placing the name of Calvin Coolidge into nomination for Vice-President. Coolidge would become the 30th President of the United States upon the death of President Harding in 1923.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of William Borah</span> List of elections featuring William Borah as a candidate

    Electoral history of William Edgar Borah, United States Senator from Idaho (1907–1940)

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 United States elections</span>

    The 1920 United States elections was held on November 2. In the aftermath of World War I, the Republican Party re-established the dominant position it lost in the 1910 and 1912 elections. This was the first election after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the constitutional right to vote.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 Republican Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of Republican US presidential candidate

    From March 9 to June 5, 1920, voters of the Republican Party elected delegates to the 1920 Republican National Convention for the purpose of choosing the party's nominee for president in the 1920 election.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential transition of Warren G. Harding</span>

    The presidential transition of Warren G. Harding began when he won the United States 1920 United States presidential election, becoming the president-elect, and ended when Harding was inaugurated on March 4, 1921.

    References

    1. ↑ Margulies, Herbert F. (1977). "Irvine L. Lenroot and the Republican Vice-Presidential Nomination of 1920". The Wisconsin Magazine of History. 61 (1): 21–31. ISSN   0043-6534.
    2. ↑ "Platform Adopted With Anti-Wilson League Plank; 'My Victory,' Says Johnson; Balloting Starts Today; Wood Men Claim the Lead; Midnight Move for Lowden". New York Times. 11 June 1920. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    3. ↑ Miller, Karen A.J. (1999). Populist Nationalism: Republican Insurgency and American Foreign Policy Making, 1918–1925. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 87–89. ISBN   9780313307768 . Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    4. ↑ https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/355017021 Chicago Tribune, June 8, 1920
    5. 1 2 "Platform Fights Starts as the Convention Opens; Johnson Flatly Demands Repudiation of the League; Apathy in the Convention; Lodge Permanent Chairman". New York Times. 9 June 1920. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    6. 1 2 3 4 "Text of the Republican Platform, Except League Plank; Dispute Over That, and Threat of a Bolt by Borah; Wood Men See Gains; New Yorkers Balk at Butler Pledge". New York Times. 10 June 1920. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    7. ↑ "Four Ballots, No Nomination, Wood Leads; Has 314 1/2 Votes, Lowden 289 and Johnson 140 1/2; Midnight Conferences Brings No Results". New York Times. 12 June 1920. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Harding Nominated for President on the Tenth Ballot at Chicago; Coolidge Chosen for Vice President". New York Times. 13 June 1920. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    9. 1 2 Miller, pp. 90–91
    10. ↑ A slightly different version appears in Andrew Sinclair, The available man: the life behind the masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1965) p. 136.
    11. ↑ Richard C. Bain, and Judith H. Parris, Convention decisions and voting records (Brookings Institution, 1973).
    12. ↑ Wesley M. Bagby, "The 'Smoke Filled Room' and the Nomination of Warren G. Harding." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 41.4 (1955): 657–74 online.
    13. 1 2 3 4 "Calvin Coolidge, 29th Vice President (1921–1923)". US Senate. US Senate. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
    14. ↑ McCoy, Donald R. (1967). Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President. Macmillan. pp. 118–21.
    15. ↑ Bain, Richard C.; Parris, Judith H. (1973). Convention Decisions and Voting Records. Brookings Institution. pp. 200–08.

    Bibliography

    Preceded by
    1916
    Chicago, Illinois     		Republican National Conventions Succeeded by
    1924
    Cleveland, Ohio
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.