1924 Republican National Convention
The 1924 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Public Auditorium from June 10 to 12.
| 1924 presidential election | |
  Nominees Coolidge and Dawes | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 10–12, 1924 |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Venue | Public Auditorium |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts |
| Vice presidential nominee | Charles G. Dawes of Illinois |
President Calvin Coolidge was nominated for a full term and went on to win the general election. The convention nominated Illinois Governor Frank Lowden for vice president on the second ballot, but he declined the nomination. The convention then selected Charles G. Dawes. Also considered for the nomination was Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas, a future vice president.
Delegates
For this convention the method of allocating delegates changed in order to reduce the overrepresentation of the South.[1] This effort proved only partly successful as Southern delegates proved to be more overrepresented than they had been in 1916 or 1920, though they were not as overrepresented as they had been in 1912 and earlier.
There were 120 women delegates, 11% of the total.[2][lower-alpha 1] The Republican National Committee approved a rule providing for a national committeeman and a national committeewoman from each state.[3][4][5]
Ku Klux Klan presence
Time featured the imperial wizard in a cover photograph in conjunction with an article about the organization's role in the Republican convention dubbing it "the Kleveland Konvention." [6] Some delegates supported adding a condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan by name into the party platform, but they lacked enough support to bring their proposed language to a vote.[7] The head of the KKK, Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans, was in the city for the convention but maintained a low public profile.[4][5]
Republican candidates
Coolidge faced a challenge from California Senator Hiram Johnson and Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette in the 1924 Republican primaries. Coolidge fended off his progressive challengers with convincing wins in the Republican primaries, and was assured of the 1924 presidential nomination by the time the convention began.[8] After his defeat in the primaries, La Follette ran a third party candidacy that attracted significant support.
Declined to run
Governor
Gifford Pinchot
of Pennsylvania
| Calvin Coolidge | 1065 | All other states |
|---|---|---|
| Robert M. La Follette, Sr. | 34 | 24 from Wisconsin, 10 from North Dakota |
| Hiram Johnson | 10 | 10 from South Dakota |
Vice Presidential nomination
Calvin Coolidge had ascended to the presidency after the death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. As the 25th Amendment had not yet been passed, Coolidge served the remainder of Harding's term without a vice president. The 1924 Republican Convention was thus tasked with picking a running mate for Coolidge.
With Coolidge having locked up the presidential nomination, most attention was focused on the vice presidential nomination. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover of California and appellate judge William Kenyon of Iowa were seen as the front-runners for the nomination, as both were popular Western progressives who could provide balance to a ticket led by a conservative from Massachusetts.[9] Coolidge's first choice was reported to be Idaho Senator William E. Borah, also a progressive Westerner, but Borah declined to be considered.[9] Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden, University of Michigan president Marion Leroy Burton, Ambassador Charles B. Warren of Michigan, Washington Senator Wesley Livsey Jones, college president John Lee Coulter of North Dakota, General James Harbord, and General Charles Dawes also had support as potential running mates.[9] Despite saying that he would not accept the nomination, Lowden was nominated for Vice President on the second ballot over Dawes, Kenyon, and Ohio Representative Theodore E. Burton.[10] However, Lowden declined the nomination, an action, that as of 2020, has never been repeated, and is now considered unthinkable. The Republicans then held a new vice presidential ballot, with Coolidge favoring Hoover.[10] However, the Republicans picked Dawes, partly as a reaction to the perceived dominance of Coolidge in running the convention.[10]
| Vice-presidential ballot | 1 | 2 Before shifts | 2 After shifts | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden | 222 | 413 | 766 | 0 |
| White House Budget Director Charles Dawes of Illinois | 149 | 111 | 49 | 682.5 |
| Ohio Congressman Theodore E. Burton | 139 | 288 | 94 | 0 |
| Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover of California | 0 | 0 | 0 | 234.5 |
| Iowa Senator William S. Kenyon | 172 | 95 | 68 | 75 |
| Pennsylvania Congressman George S. Graham | 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana Senator James E. Watson | 79 | 55 | 7 | 45 |
| Kansas Senator Charles Curtis | 56 | 31 | 24 | 0 |
| Missouri Governor Arthur M. Hyde | 55 | 36 | 36 | 0 |
| Nebraska Senator George W. Norris | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah delegate Frank T. Hines | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Convention delegate Charles H. March of Minnesota | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee Congressman James W. Taylor | 21 | 20 | 27 | 27 |
| Former Maryland Senator William P. Jackson | 23 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Ambassador to Japan Charles B. Warren of New York | 10 | 1 | 23 | 14 |
| Former Delaware Senator Thomas C. DuPont | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Montana Governor Joseph M. Dixon | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Indiana Congressman Everett Sanders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Former U.S. Army Major General James G. Harbord of New York | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Former Indiana Senator Albert J. Beveridge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| College president John Lee Coulter of North Dakota | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| California businessman William Wrigley Jr. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Prayers
Each of the three days of the convention opened with a lengthy invocation by a different clergymen—one Methodist, one Jewish, one Catholic. Each was listed among the convention officers as an official chaplain.[11]
On June 10, the opening prayer was given by William F. Anderson, Methodist Episcopal bishop of Boston. Among other things, he called for "stricter observance of the law and the preservation of the Constitution of the United States", in other words, for more zealous enforcement of Prohibition.[12]
The next day's session was opened by Rev. Dr. Samuel Schulman, rabbi of Temple Beth-El in New York. Schulman spoke with appreciation for "the Republican Party's precious heritage of the championship of human rights"; he called for "every form of prejudice and misunderstanding" to be "driven forever out of our land". Speaking of Calvin Coolidge, he praised "the integrity, the wisdom, the fearlessness of our beloved President".[13]
On June 12, the final day's invocation was given by Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland. Schrembs characterized President Calvin Coolidge as "a chieftain whose record of faithful public service, and whose personality, untarnished and untainted by the pollution of political corruption, will fill the heart of America with the new hope of a second spring".[14]
See also
- History of the United States Republican Party
- List of Republican National Conventions
- U.S. presidential nomination convention
- Republican Party presidential primaries, 1924
- 1924 United States presidential election
- 1924 Democratic National Convention
Notes
- Women's participation in national GOP conventions declined after 1924 and did not reach 11% again until 1952.[2]
References
- "An historical analysis of the apportionment of delegate votes at the National Conventions of the two major parties". thegreenpapers.com.
- Rymph, Catherine E. (2006). Republican Women: Feminism and Conservatism from Suffrage Through the Rise of the New Right. University of North Carolina Press. p. 27. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- "Milestones: Women in the GOP". National Federation of Republican Women. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- Suydam, Henry (June 11, 1924). "Wizard Evans Leads Drive on Anti-Klan Plank". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Ku Klux Klan: Kleveland Konvention". Time (Vol. III, No. 25). June 23, 1924.
- "Cover". Time. June 23, 1924. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- Gin, Willie (2017). Minorities and Reconstructive Coalitions: The Catholic Question. Taylor & Francis. p. 68.
- Lower, Richard Coke (1993). A Bloc of One: The Political Career of Hiram W. Johnson. Stanford University Press. pp. 221–223. ISBN 0-8047-2081-9.
- Oulahan, Richard V. (June 10, 1924). "Kenyon Leads for Second Place on Convention Eve, New Move to "Draft" Lowden Fails; Hoover Strong; La Follette Starts Fight for a Radical Platform". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- "Coolidge and Dawes Nominated; General Named for Second Place After Lowden, Chosen, Refuses it". The New York Times. June 13, 1924. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention (1924), pp. 37
- Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention (1928), pp. 7–9
- Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention, published by the Republican National Committee (1924), pp. 49–50
- Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention, published by the Republican National Committee (1924), pp. 125–26
External links
- Republican Party platform of 1924 at The American Presidency Project
| Preceded by 1920 Chicago, Illinois |
Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1928 Kansas City, Missouri |
