| 1888 presidential election | |
  Nominees Harrison and Morton | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 19–25, 1888 |
| City | Chicago,Illinois |
| Venue | Auditorium Theatre |
| Chair | Morris M. Estee |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Benjamin Harrison ofIndiana |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Levi P. Morton ofNew York |
| Other candidates | John Sherman Russell A. Alger Walter Q. Gresham |
| Voting | |
| Total delegates | 832 |
| Votes needed for nomination | 417 |
| Results (president) | Harrison (IN): 544 (65.38%) Sherman (OH): 118 (14.18%) Alger (MI): 100 (12.02%) Gresham (IN): 59 (7.09%) Blaine (ME): 5 (0.60%) McKinley (OH): 4 (0.48%) Others: 1 (0.12%) |
| Results (vice president) | Morton (NY): 592 (71.15%) Phelps (NJ): 119 (14.3%) Bradley (KY): 103 (12.38%) Bruce (MS): 11 (1.32%) Abstaining: 6 (0.72%) Walter S. Thomas: 1 (0.12%) |
| Ballots | 8 |
| ‹ 1884 · 1892 › | |
The1888 Republican National Convention was apresidential nominating convention held at theAuditorium Theatre inChicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of formerSenatorBenjamin Harrison ofIndiana forpresident andLevi P. Morton ofNew York, a formerRepresentative andMinister to France, forvice president. During the convention,Frederick Douglass was invited to speak and became the first African-American to have his name put forward for a presidential nomination in amajor party's roll call vote; he received one vote fromKentucky on the fourth ballot.
The ticket won in theelection of 1888, defeating PresidentGrover Cleveland and former SenatorAllen G. Thurman from Ohio.
The convention was held inChicago'sAuditorium Theatre. Since the construction on the theater had not been completed in time for the convention, a tent canvas was utilized as a temporary roof during the convention.[1] Controversy was generated, withlabor movement supporters taking issue with the nontrade union labor utilized in the construction of theAuditorium Building (which the theater is a component of).[2]
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Issues addressed in the convention included support for protective tariffs, repeal of taxes on tobacco, support for the use of gold and silver as currency and support for pensions for veterans. The party also expressed its opposition to polygamy.[3]
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The early favorite for the nomination wasJames G. Blaine.[4] After he disclaimed interest, several candidates vied for the prize, with the frontrunners beingRussell A. Alger,Walter Q. Gresham,Chauncey Depew, andJohn Sherman.[4] After several ballots, none of the leading candidates was able to obtain a majority.Benjamin Harrison, who had served in the U.S. Senate from 1881 to 1887, but had lost reelection after the Democrats gained control of the Indiana legislature, was a dark horse candidate.[4][5] Republicans were dispirited after losing the presidency in 1884 and were attracted to Harrison because of the speech announcing his presidential candidacy, in which he described himself as a "living and rejuvenated Republican."[5] Harrison won the nomination on the eighth ballot and "Rejuvenated Republicanism" became the party's campaign slogan.[5]
| Presidential Balloting | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
| Harrison | 85 | 91 | 94 | 216 | 212 | 231 | 279 | 544 |
| Sherman | 229 | 249 | 244 | 235 | 224 | 244 | 230 | 118 |
| Alger | 84 | 116 | 122 | 135 | 143 | 137 | 120 | 100 |
| Gresham | 107 | 108 | 123 | 98 | 87 | 91 | 91 | 59 |
| Allison | 72 | 75 | 88 | 88 | 99 | 73 | 76 | 0 |
| Depew | 99 | 99 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blaine | 35 | 33 | 35 | 42 | 48 | 40 | 15 | 5 |
| Ingalls | 28 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phelps | 25 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rusk | 25 | 20 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fitler | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McKinley | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 4 |
| Hawley | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lincoln | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Miller | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Douglass | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Foraker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Grant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Creed Haymond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Blank | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 22, 1888)
Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (June 23, 1888)
Presidential Balloting / 6th Day of Convention (June 25, 1888)
Blaine, who had recommended Harrison for the presidential nomination, suggested former Representative andMinister to Austria-HungaryWilliam Walter Phelps of New Jersey for vice president.Thomas C. Platt, an influentialpolitical boss inNew York State, supported fellow New YorkerLevi P. Morton, a former Representative andMinister to France. He had been askedin 1880, but declined.[6] This time Morton decided to accept.[4] He was easily elected on the first ballot as Platt's support of Morton helped him defeat Phelps by a margin of five to one.[4]
| Vice Presidential Ballot | |
|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st |
| Morton | 592 |
| Phelps | 119 |
| Bradley | 103 |
| Bruce | 11 |
| Thomas | 1 |
| Not Voting | 6 |
Vice Presidential Balloting / 6th Day of Convention (June 25, 1888)
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Nearly a decade later, Ohio candidate John Sherman accused Michigan candidate millionaireRussell A. Alger of buying the votes of Southern delegates who had already confirmed their vote for Sherman. In Sherman's 1895 two-volume book "Recollections" he asserted, "I believe, and had, as I thought, conclusive proof, that the friends of Gen. Alger substantially purchased the votes of many of the delegates from the Southern States who had been instructed by their conventions to vote for me." Once accused, Alger submitted correspondence to theNew York Times, who published one letter from 1888, written after the convention to Alger, where Sherman states, "if you bought some [votes], according to universal usage, surely I don't blame you." Later in the same New York Times article, Alger insisted neither he or friends bought a single vote. The article also quotes another delegate, James Lewis, who claimed that "the colored delegates of the South will unite on a Union soldier in preference" instead of a civilian.[7]
When Sherman introduced his antitrust legislation two years later, his main example of unlawful combination drew from a Michigan Supreme Court case involving Diamond Match Company and Alger's participation as president and stock holder.[8]
| Preceded by 1884 Chicago | Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1892 Minneapolis |