1924 Republican National Convention

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1924 Republican National Convention
1924 presidential election
RP1924.png RV1924.png
Nominees
Coolidge and Dawes
Convention
Date(s)June 10–12, 1924
CityCleveland, Ohio
VenuePublic Auditorium
Candidates
Presidential nomineeCalvin Coolidge of Massachusetts
Vice presidential nomineeCharles G. Dawes of Illinois
‹ 1920  ·  1928 ›
Crowd gathered outside of the Public Auditorium during the convention

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

Incumbent President Calvin Coolidge was nominated for a full term and went on to win the general election. The convention nominated Illinois Governor Frank Orren 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][a] 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

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] Time featured Evans in a cover photograph[6] in conjunction with an article about the organization's role in the Republican convention, dubbing it "the Kleveland Konvention."[7] As with the 1924 Democratic National Convention, 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.[8]

Republican candidates

Coolidge faced a challenge from California Senator Hiram Johnson and Wisconsin Senator Robert M. 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.[9] After his defeat in the primaries, La Follette ran a third party candidacy that attracted significant support.

Declined to run

1st Presidential Ballot
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

As Calvin Coolidge had ascended to the presidency following the death of Warren G. Harding on 2 August 1923, he served the remainder of Harding's term without a vice president as the 25th Amendment had not yet been passed. This also left the Convention with the task of choosing 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.[10] Coolidge's first choice was reported to be Idaho Senator William E. Borah, also a progressive Westerner, but Borah declined to be considered.[10] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[11] However, the Republicans picked Dawes, partly as a reaction to the perceived dominance of Coolidge in running the convention.[11]

Vice Presidential vote
Vice-presidential ballot 1 2
Before shifts		 2
After shifts		 3
Former Illinois Governor Frank Orren Lowden 222 413 766 0
White House Budget Director Charles G. 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.[12]

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.[13]

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".[14]

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".[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Women's participation in national GOP conventions declined after 1924 and did not reach 11% again until 1952.[2]

References

  1. ^ "An historical analysis of the apportionment of delegate votes at the National Conventions of the two major parties". thegreenpapers.com.
  2. ^ a b 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.
  3. ^ "Milestones: Women in the GOP". National Federation of Republican Women. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Suydam, Henry (June 11, 1924). "Wizard Evans Leads Drive on Anti-Klan Plank". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Ku Klux Klan: Kleveland Konvention". Time. No. Vol. III, No. 25. June 23, 1924.
  6. ^ "Cover". Time. June 23, 1924. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  7. ^ "Ku Klux Klan: Kleveland Konvention". June 23, 1924. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Gin, Willie (2017). Minorities and Reconstructive Coalitions: The Catholic Question. Taylor & Francis. p. 68. ISBN 9781351981859.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b c 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.
  11. ^ a b c "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.
  12. ^ Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention (1924), pp. 37
  13. ^ Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention (1928), pp. 7–9
  14. ^ Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention, published by the Republican National Committee (1924), pp. 49–50
  15. ^ Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention, published by the Republican National Committee (1924), pp. 125–26

External links

Preceded by
1920
Chicago, Illinois 		Republican National Conventions Succeeded by
1928
Kansas City, Missouri
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