History of the Democratic National Convention: Past and Present

Democratic National Convention logo. Image: Wikimedia

HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

[Updated for today’s event.]

August 19 is the beginning of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The Democratic National Convention’s history goes back to 1832 and has been administered under the Democratic National Committee since 1852.

However, this year’s event represents a series of unique events in the election process and some things we’ve seen before in our national history.

CONTENT

• What’s Happened So Far in the Race?
• What Hasn’t Happened Yet?
• Has This Happened Before in American History?
• Has A Candidate Run Unopposed for President?
• Have There Been Instances Where a Party’s Candidate Was Selected Unopposed at the Party’s Convention?
• Several Firsts for the 2024 Democratic National Convention

What’s Happened So Far in the Race?

As I mentioned in my previous article on Presidential Conventions, Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee after securing the support of 2,350 Party delegates on August 2 via the virtual roll call vote. That is the threshold required to earn the nomination.

Previously, on July 22, enough convention delegates had pledged support for Ms. Harris to make her the new presumptive nominee. She became the official nominee after the virtual roll call vote concluded on August 5.

The decision to hold a virtual nominating process ahead of the August 19-22 convention was made while President Biden was still the presumptive candidate. It was decided in response to ballot access rules in Ohio, which require that candidates for the November ballot be formally selected 90 days before the election – or by August 7.

The virtual roll call, which began July 30 and ended August 5, occurred ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Since the 1980s, the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention have been essentially inaugural events for the winning candidates since winners are announced long before the convention. In the past fifty years, national conventions now officially ratify the nominees instead of choosing them.

2008 DNC in Denver, Barack Obama speaker. Image: Wikimedia

The Democratic National Convention held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco in 1984, was the last to be held in a convention center complex; since then, the DNCs have been held in sports arenas. Except in 2020, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, both parties substituted virtual programs instead of in-person conventions.

What Hasn’t Happened Yet?

Because the Democratic Party holds the White House, its convention is traditionally scheduled after the 2024 Republican National Convention and starts on August 19.

Presidential and vice-presidential nominees are typically anointed at their party conventions, but the relatively late date of the 2024 DNC risked falling afoul of state ballot access laws.

Ms. Harris had not chosen her vice-presidential running mate before she secured the virtual rollcall vote on August 2. Delegates did not need to vote on the vice-presidential pick. Until 1972, the party’s choice of the vice-presidential nominee was usually not known until the last evening of the convention. This was because, until then, the presidential nominee had little to do with the process and, in numerous instances, was not known at the start of the convention.

On August 6, Ms. Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate for the Democratic ticket. He joined her ahead of a multi-day campaign tour across the swing states for the 2024 election, just three months before the November election.

2024 DNC logo. Image: Wikimedia

The 1976 convention was the last time the vice-presidential nominee was announced during the convention; after the presidential nominee was selected, President Jimmy Carter picked Walter Mondale as his running mate.

Since 1984, the presumptive party presidential nominee has announced their choice of a running mate for vice president before the convention even opened, and they have been ratified by acclamation at the convention.

Ms. Harris plans to formally accept her party’s nomination at the convention in Chicago. At the United Center sports arena, the Democratic Party will vote on the party platform and ceremonially report their vote to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president and affirm her running mate for vice president in the 2024 presidential election.

United Center, Chicago. Image: Wikipedia

DNC organizers expect tens of thousands of protestors from a coalition of at least 125 protest organizations in Chicago during the convention… including the Students for a Democratic Society.

Echos of the 1968 DNC in Chicago?

Grant Park, at the 1968 Chicago DNC. Image: Wikimedia

$50 million in federal funding will be provided for security spending. Because this is a major party presidential nominating convention, the 2024 Democratic National Convention will be designated a National Special Security Event.

Following the attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump on July 13, the Secret Service will secure the United Center and the immediate area surrounding it, while the Chicago Police Department will secure everything outside the inner perimeter, with both agencies securing rooftops of all buildings that may have a line of sight to the United Center

Has This Happened Before in American History?

Has a previous candidate been nominated to the party’s ticket without participating in state primary elections or caucuses?

Yes and no.

The “yes” part:

The closest historical parallel to today’s DNC is back in 1968 when Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic National Convention nomination without participating in any primary elections after he was given Lyndon B. Johnson‘s delegates.

1968 DNC program artwork. Image: Wikimedia

The “no” part:

Hubert Humphrey did not run unopposed for the Democratic nomination in 1968. The incumbent president, Lyndon B. Johnson, announced that he was not running for the Democratic ticket earlier in that electoral year in March of 1968. This allowed over half a dozen other candidates to participate in the race before the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie, 1968 Democratic National Convention. Image: Wikimedia

President Biden, in contrast, announced his intention not to run on July 21, only 29 days before the Democratic National Convention, and endorsed Ms. Harris. She has run effectively unopposed.

There were only two other temporary candidates:

• Dean Phillips, Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, and
• Jason Palmer, who had defeated President Biden in the 2024 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucus.

All candidates had to be formally nominated beginning July 25 and ending July 27 at 6:00 PM EDT. Candidates also needed to accrue the support of at least 300 delegates each, with no more than 50 from any one state delegation, by 6:00 PM EDT on July 30. Only Ms. Harris passed the threshold of at least 300 delegates by the deadline. The other candidates had insufficient delegates pledged to them and withdrew from the race.

Has A Candidate Run Unopposed for President?

Yes… but.

Both George Washington and James Monroe ran unopposed for the office of President.

But… these two men were not just their party’s candidates.

• George Washington became president when there were no political parties or party conventions. He was elected unopposed for both of his terms. He had already been commander-in-chief of the American Continental Army during the War of Independence (American Revolutionary War) and a Lieutenant Colonel in the French and Indian War. He served as president from 1789 to 1797.

• James Monroe was a presidential incumbent who ran without a significant opponent. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, like Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison before him. The Federalist Party, to which our second president, John Adams, belonged, had dissolved during Monroe’s first term, so there were no viable opponents to challenge Monroe. It should be noted that Rufus King of the Federalist Party ran as the informal candidate in 1816, informal because the party did not meet for any convention that year. However, King was defeated, with only 31% of the popular vote, by Monroe in a landslide. Monroe served as our fifth president from 1817 to 1825.

By the way:

Monroe’s re-election marked the first time in U.S. history that a third consecutive president won a second election, following the terms of both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This did not happen again until President Barack Obama‘s 2012 re-election.

Have There Been Instances Where a Party’s Candidate Was Selected Unopposed at the Party’s Convention?

Yes, with both political parties: these situations usually occurred when one candidate had overwhelming support and no significant challengers emerged. For example:

1912 DNC guest admission tickets. Image: Wikimedia

• William Howard Taft was the incumbent president and was largely unopposed at the 1912 Republican National Convention.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt was the incumbent president nominated for re-election to a second term by the Democratic Party in 1936 without serious opposition at the DNC. By this time, he had solidified his position within the party, and no significant challengers emerged. When he ran for his fourth term in 1944, Thomas E. Dewey was his “formal” opposition candidate; however, the election leaned strongly in Roosevelt’s favor because of his strong performance in office during World War II. FDR won in a considerable landslide.

• Dwight D. Eisenhower was the incumbent president and clear favorite for re-nomination at the 1956 Republican National Convention. He was nominated without serious opposition.

In summary, some historical parallels exist from the past of unopposed candidate contests — primarily among incumbent presidents. Going into the 2024 Democratic National Convention, we’ve seen some unique differences with Ms. Harris’s candidacy. But there are more.

Several Firsts for the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Kamala Harris represents several firsts already in her 2+ weeks as the candidate for the Democratic ticket:

• 1st Black woman and first South Asian woman to become the White House standard-bearer for a major US political party.
• 1st Democratic nominee in the party’s nearly 200-year history to hail from a western state
• 1st major party candidate to secure the nomination without holding a press conference or a sit-down interview.

And, if she wins the Presidential election in November:

• 1st female American president.

Stay tuned, November is coming.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com

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