The
Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the
Democratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
since the 1852 national convention. The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention is to nominate and confirm a candidate for
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
and
Vice PresidentThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term...
, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party.
DelegateA delegate is a person representing an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person representing an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO,a trade union) at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A...
s from all fifty
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
s and from American dependencies and territories such as
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
and the
Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands are an archipelago, part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles, where the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean....
attend the convention and cast their votes to choose the Party's presidential candidate. Like the
Republican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, the Democratic National Convention marks the formal end of the
primary electionA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
period and the start of the
general electionIn a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election...
season.
Nomination
The party's presidential nominee is chosen in a series of individual
state caucuses and primary electionsThe series of presidential primary elections and caucuses is one of the first steps in the process of electing the President of the United States of America. The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events run by the political parties...
. Superdelegates, delegates whose votes are not bound to the outcome of a state's caucus or primary, may also influence the nomination. Due to the scheduling of caucuses and primary elections early in the election year, the party's presidential nominee is usually known months before the Democratic National Convention. Historically, however, the party's choice of the presidential nominee was usually not known until the last evening of the convention. The choice was an often contentious debate that riled the passions of party leaders. Delegates were forced to vote for a nominee repeatedly until someone could capture a minimum number of delegates needed.
Backroom deals by party bosses were normal and often resulted in compromise nominees that became known as
dark horseA "dark horse" is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance. A dark horse is a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on....
candidates. Dark horse candidates were people who never imagined they would run for President until the last moments of the convention. Dark horse candidates were chosen in order to break deadlocks between more popular and powerful prospective nominees that blocked each other from gaining enough delegates to be nominated. The most famous dark horse candidate nominated at a Democratic National Convention was James Knox Polk who was chosen to become the candidate for President only after being added to the eighth and ninth delegate ballot.
History
By 1824, the
Congressional Nominating CaucusThe Congressional nominating caucus is the name for informal meetings in which American congressmen would agree on who to nominate for the Presidency and Vice Presidency from their political party. This system started in 1796 after George Washington stepped down as President...
had fallen into disrepute and collapsed as a method of nominating presidential and vice presidential candidates. A national convention idea had been brought up but nothing occurred until the next decade. State conventions and state legislatures emerged as the nomination apparatus until they were supplanted by the national convention method of nominating candidates. President
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . He was military governor of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy...
's "
Kitchen CabinetThe Kitchen Cabinet was a term used by political opponents of President of the United States Andrew Jackson to describe the collection of unofficial advisers he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton Affair and his break with...
" privately carried out the plan for the first Democratic National Convention; the public call for the first national convention emanated from Jackson's supporters in
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
in 1831.
The first national convention of the Democratic Party began in Baltimore on May 21,
1832The 1832 Democratic National Convention was held from May 21st to the 23rd, in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the first national convention of the Democratic Party of the United States; it followed presidential nominating conventions held by the Anti-Masonic Party and the National Republican Party...
. In that year the infamous 2/3 rule was created, requiring a 2/3 majority to nominate a candidate, in order to show the party's unanimous support of
Martin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the eighth Vice President and the 10th Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson...
for vice president. Although this rule was waived in the 1836 and 1840 conventions, in 1844 it was revived by opponents of former President Van Buren, who had the support of a majority, but not a super-majority, of the delegates, in order to prevent him from receiving the nomination. The rule then remained in place for almost the next hundred years, and often led to Democratic National Conventions which dragged on endlessly, most famously at the
1924 conventionThe 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
when "Wets" and "Drys" deadlocked between preferred candidates Alfred E. Smith and William G. McAdoo for 103 ballots before finally agreeing on
John W. DavisJohn William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as an United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and U.S. Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson. Over a 60-year legal career, he argued 140 cases...
as a compromise candidate. The 2/3 rule was finally abolished in 1936, when the unanimity in favor of the renomination of President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
allowed it finally to be put to rest. In the years that followed only one convention (the
1952 ConventionThe 1952 Democratic National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 21 to July 26, 1952, which was the same arena the Republicans had gathered in a few weeks earlier for their national convention...
) actually went beyond a single ballot, although this may be more attributable to changes in the nominating process itself than to the rules change.
William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in 1896, 1900 and 1908, a lawyer, and the 41st United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. One of the most popular speakers in American history, he was noted for a deep, commanding voice...
delivered his "Cross of Gold" speech at the
1896 conventionThe 1896 Democratic National Convention, held at the Chicago Coliseum from July 7 to July 11, was the scene of William Jennings Bryan's nomination as Democratic presidential candidate for the 1896 U.S. presidential election....
. The most historically notable—and tumultuous—convention of recent memory was the
1968 Democratic National ConventionThe 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968...
in Chicago, Illinois, which was fraught with highly emotional battles between conventioneers and
Vietnam warThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
protesters and a notable outburst by Chicago mayor
Richard J. DaleyRichard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
. Other confrontations between various groups, such as the Yippies and members of the
Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left...
, and the Chicago police in city parks, streets and hotels marred this convention. Following the 1968 convention, in which many reformers had been disappointed in the way that Vice President
Hubert HumphreyHubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
, despite not having competed in a single primary, easily won the nomination over Senators
Eugene McCarthyEugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
and
George McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is a former United States Representative, Senator, and Democratic presidential nominee. McGovern lost the 1972 presidential election in a landslide to Richard Nixon. As a decorated World War II combat veteran, McGovern was known for his opposition to the Vietnam...
(who announced after the assassination of another candidate, Senator
Robert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician. He was a younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and acted as one of his advisers during his presidency. From 1961 to 1964, he was the U.S...
), a commission headed by Senator McGovern reformed the Democratic Party's nominating process to increase the power of primaries in choosing delegates in order to increase the democracy of the process. Not entirely coincidentally, McGovern himself won the nomination in 1972. The
1972 conventionThe 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10-13, 1972....
was significant in that the new rules put into place as a result of the McGovern commission also opened the door for quotas mandating that certain percentages of delegates be women or members of minority groups, and subjects that were previously deemed not fit for political debate, such as
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
and lesbian and gay rights, now occupied the forefront of political discussion. That convention itself was one of the most bizarre in American history, with sessions beginning in the early evening and lasting until sunrise the next morning, and outside political activists gaining influence at the expense of elected officials and core Democratic constituencies such as organized labor (thus resulting in a convention far to the left of the rank-and-file of the Democratic Party).
The nature of Democratic (and
RepublicanThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
) conventions has changed considerably since 1972. Every 4 years, the nominees are essentially selected earlier and earlier in the year, so the conventions now officially ratify the nominees instead of choose them. (Even the close race of
2008The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party of the United States chose their candidate for the 2008 United States presidential election...
, which was not decided until early June, did not change the modern function of the convention). The
1980 conventionThe 1980 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party nominated President Jimmy Carter for President and Vice President Walter Mondale for Vice President...
was the last convention for the Democrats that had even a sliver of doubt about who the nominee would be. (
Ted KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in November 1962, he was elected nine times and served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and...
forced a failing vote to free delegates from their commitment to vote for
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
). The
1976 conventionThe 1976 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The convention nominated Jimmy Carter of Georgia for President and Walter Mondale of Minnesota for Vice-President. John Glenn and Barbara Jordan gave keynote...
was the last where the vice-presidential nominee was announced during the convention, after the presidential nominee was chosen. (Carter choosing
Walter MondaleWalter Frederick Mondale is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He was the 42nd Vice President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter, a two-term United States Senator from Minnesota, and the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1984...
). After the "ugly" conventions of 1968 and 1972, the parties realized it was in their interests to show a unified party to the nation during the convention, and to try to eliminate any dissent. And as the conventions became less interesting, and
television ratingsNielsen ratings are audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
have generally declined (as they have on average for all television shows), the networks have cut back their coverage significantly, which in turn has forced the parties to manage what is televised even more closely.
Mid-term conventions
In addition to the well-known presidential nominating conventions, the Democrats have held three mid-term conventions in recent decades: In 1974 in
Kansas CityKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
, in 1978 in
MemphisMemphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4
th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River....
, and in 1982 in Philadelphia. The mid-term conventions were held to create enthusiasm and rally the party faithful. However, they were discontinued due to the cost, and the over-emphasis of campaigning by potential presidential candidates.
See also
- List of Democratic National Conventions
- History of the United States Democratic Party
The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world.-Origins:...
- Democratic Party (United States) superdelegates, 2008
- Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
- Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
- 2008 Democratic National Convention
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver, Colorado,...
, the most recent.
External links
- The American Presidency Project, contains the text of the national platforms that were adopted by the conventions (1840-2004)
- http://www.demconvention.com/history/