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1920 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 1916 March 9 to June 5, 1920 1924 →
940 delegates to the1920 Republican National Convention 471 (majority) votes needed to win
Candidate Leonard Wood Frank Orren Lowden Hiram Johnson Home state Massachusetts Illinois California Delegate count 287.5 211.5 133.5 Contests won 8 1 7 Popular vote 710,863 389,127 965,651 Percentage 22.3% 12.2% 30.3%
First place by first-instance vote First place by convention roll call      Wood     Lowden     Johnson      Harding     Poindexter     Various[a]
Previous Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes Republican nominee Warren G. Harding

From March 9 to June 5, 1920, voters of theRepublican Party elected delegates to the1920 Republican National Convention for the purpose of choosing the party's nominee forpresident in the1920 election.

The delegates were largely contested between GovernorHiram Johnson ofCalifornia, a progressive who had been the running mate ofTheodore Roosevelt eight years prior; GeneralLeonard Wood, one of Roosevelt's closest friends; andFrank O. Lowden, the Governor ofIllinois.

After a series ofprimary elections andcaucuses, no candidate had emerged with a clear majority of the delegates. At the1920 Republican National Convention, held from June 8 to June 12, inChicago,Illinois,^[1] the delegations of the leading candidates deadlocked andWarren G. Harding was nominated as adark horse candidate, although he had only won a few delegates entering the convention.

In 1912, the Republican Party was split. Former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt challenged incumbentWilliam Howard Taft for the nomination and, when it was denied at the 1912 Republican National Convention, bolted to form theProgressive Party. With Republicans (who had won eight of the previous eleven presidential elections) split,Woodrow Wilson won the race with a plurality of the popular vote and a large majority in the electoral college.

In 1916, the Republican Party nominated Associate Justice of the United StatesCharles Evans Hughes, a respected jurist and former Governor of New York, as one who could appeal to both Progressives and Republicans alike. Though Hughes was able to avoid disaster when Roosevelt declined to run on the Progressive ticket, he fell narrowly short of defeating President Wilson, who significantly improved on his vote from 1912. The campaign was dominated by two wars: theMexican Revolution andWorld War I. Responding to Republican calls for military preparedness,^[2] Wilson used the slogan "He kept us out of war" to emphasize the maintenance of U.S. neutrality.^[3]

In January 1917, theZimmermann telegram from Germany to Mexico was intercepted by British intelligence. In the telegram, German diplomatArthur Zimmermann offered to restore much of the territory Mexico had lost in theMexican–American War in the event the United States entered the war. Zimmermann, hoping to threaten the United States, admitted the telegram's authenticity in a March speech to theReichstag. Public outcry ensued, and Wilson requested a declaration of a "war to end all wars" against Germany. Congress granted the request on April 6, 1917, shortly after Wilson began his second term and nearly three years after the war had begun.

Major GeneralFrederick Funston, Wilson's first choice to command U.S. forces, had died in February.^[4] Several Republican Party leaders called on Wilson to appointLeonard Wood, a close friend and advisor of Theodore Roosevelt and long-time preparedness advocate. However, Wilson choseJohn J. Pershing, a Republican who had previously gained fame as commander of thePancho Villa Expedition, at the behest of Secretary of WarNewton D. Baker. After a yearlong mobilization effort, Pershing and U.S. troops began major combat operations during summer 1918, near the war's end. The United States was able to claim victory with relatively few casualties. Pershing's fame was further elevated to that of a war hero. He was widely considered a candidate for the presidency, though some Republicans considered him too close to the Wilson administration.^[5]

On January 8, 1918, Wilson delivered a speech to Congress specifying his war aims. Those idealist aims, which came to be known as Wilson'sFourteen Points, sought to expand his progressive domestic program abroad. The Fourteen Points were to serve as the basis for negotiation of theTreaty of Versailles. Among the most controversial points were his proposals toremove economic barriers between nations, guarantee national self-determination, and establish aLeague of Nations, an international body designed to prevent future wars.

Criticism of the Fourteen Points as idealistic or an abrogation of national sovereignty was a major focus of the Republican campaign of 1918. The leading critic was former President Theodore Roosevelt, by now the early favorite for the 1920 presidential nomination. Though Roosevelt himself had privately predicted 1916 was his last campaign,^[6] his public profile remained strong and his attacks on Wilson made him a natural contender. In early March 1918, he declared, "By George, if they'll take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for!"^[7] He met with Republican strategists during the summer, though he declined to run for Governor of New York, privately citing the need to preserve his strength for the 1920 campaign.^[8][9][10]

With the war in its final week, Americans elected the Republican Party to control of both houses of Congress. In the state elections, Republicans performed well in the West, gaining five governors' offices west of theMississippi River. Their major loss came in Roosevelt's home of New York, whereAl Smith gained the governor's office.

Roosevelt's physical condition deteriorated rapidly after his sonQuentin was killed in action, and died at the age of sixty on January 6, 1919. His final written work, a criticism of the proposed League of Nations and defense of "Americanism," was published inMetropolitan Magazine shortly after his death.

With Roosevelt dead, the leading candidates for the nomination were his friend, General Wood, and SenatorWarren G. Harding ofOhio.^[11] On February 9, 1919, Wood delivered a memorial address for Roosevelt, in which he echoed the late President's criticisms of the League of Nations and raised his national profile as a political orator. "Either unconsciously or with a master hand," the PhiladelphiaPublic Ledger reported, Wood had made a "bold and convincing bid for the Republican nomination."^[11] Wood soon replaced Roosevelt as a regular contributor toMetropolitan magazine and returned to command as head of the Army Central Department in Chicago.^[11]

Having lost command of Congress, Wilson left to personally represent the United States at theParis Peace Conference in January 1919; he was the first President to leave for Europe while still in office.^[12] He brought with him only one Republican and chose, rather than a Senator or Representative, the ex-diplomatHenry White.^[13] Wilson's decision to double down on idealism and foreign intervention in the face of his rejection at the polls incensed Republican leadership (led byHenry Cabot Lodge), improved the party's political optimism for 1920, and promised to make foreign policy the defining issue of the upcoming campaign.

The success of theBolshevik Revolution and the threat of revolution in Germany, Austria, and Italy bred hope and fear for revolution in the United States, where the Socialist Party had made modest gains.^[14] With Wilson in Europe and Roosevelt dead, the country was leaderless, as were both of its major political parties.

Labor strikes in 1919, especially in New York and Seattle, startled conservatives. Further strikes rocked the textile industry, the clothing trade, and street railcars. A Boston police strike skyrocketed GovernorCalvin Coolidge to national prominence when, amid rioting and looting, he sternly declared there was no right "to strike against the public safety."^[15]Frank O. Lowden of Illinois also came to prominence for his handling of theChicago race riot of 1919, facing off with mayorWilliam Hale Thompson in a game of brinksmanship.

Leonard Wood made his personal contribution to the counterrevolution by leading his troops toWest Virginia in April, where theyheaded off armed miners without violence.^[15] In September, Wood led troops to suppressa race riot in Omaha, brought on by the lynching of a black civilian. Again, he restored the peace without further bloodshed.^[15] His most controversial political act came in October, when he attempted to mediate thesteel strike of 1919. The mediation ultimately failed, but Wood imposed terms on the strikers and capital with pleased neither. "I am now," he declared toHenry Stimson, "practically the Mayor of Omaha and Gary, with prospects of additions to the crop."^[16]

Between his domestic deployments in 1919, Wood traveled the country speaking on behalf of veterans' organizations. Everywhere, he was received as if he were already the Republican nominee.^[17] He hired John T. King, a former associate of Roosevelt's fromBridgeport, Connecticut, as a political manager.^[18] Others in the party's Old Guard,^[who?] however, saw Wood as too independent and preferred Harding.^[19]

By November 1919, Wood's political-military campaign had been a rousing success. "Unless the situation changes," wroteWilliam Allen White, "no other candidate will be mentioned in the Republican Convention. But the situation of course in this country will have to be desperate if it does not change."^[15] As the popular front-runner, Wood was vulnerable both from fatigue and the attention of other candidates, led first by Harding.^[15]

Candidate			Experience	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
Warren G. Harding			U.S. Senator fromOhio (1915–1921) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (1904–1906)	Ohio	(Campaign •Positions) Announced: December 17, 1919[20] Secured nomination: June 12, 1920		[data missing]	Calvin Coolidge

Candidate			Experience	Home state	Campaign	Delegates on first ballot	Contests won
Hiram Johnson			U.S. Senator fromCalifornia (1917–1945) Governor of California (1911–1917)	California	Defeated at convention: June 12, 1920		[data missing]
Leonard Wood			Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1910–1914) Governor ofMoro Province (1911–1917) Governor of Cuba (1911–1917)	Massachusetts	Defeated at convention: June 12, 1920		[data missing]
Frank O. Lowden			Governor of Illinois (1917–1921) U.S. Representative fromIL-13 (1906–1911)	Illinois	Defeated at convention: June 12, 1920	—	[data missing]
Miles Poindexter			U.S. Senator fromWashington (1911–1923) U.S. Representative fromWA-3 (1909–1911)	Washington	Defeated at convention: June 12, 1920	—	[data missing]
Herbert Hoover			Director of theU.S. Food Administration (1917–1918) Chairman of theBelgian Relief (1914–1917)	California	Defeated at convention: June 12, 1920	—	[data missing]

• Former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme CourtCharles Evans Hughes fromNew York
• General of the ArmiesJohn J. Pershing fromMissouri
• 26thPresident of the United StatesTheodore Roosevelt fromNew York (died January 6, 1919)

The following candidates stood for nomination in their home states for the purpose of controlling their delegate slate at the convention. They did not receive the first-ballot support of delegates in more than two other states or territories.

• President ofColumbia UniversityNicholas Murray Butler fromNew York
• GovernorCalvin Coolidge ofMassachusetts
• BusinessmanT. Coleman du Pont ofDelaware
• SenatorRobert M. La Follette ofWisconsin
• JudgeJeter Pritchard fromNorth Carolina
• GovernorWilliam C. Sproul ofPennsylvania
• SenatorHoward Sutherland ofWest Virginia
• Retired businessmanEdward R. Wood fromPennsylvania^[b]

Though he was among the stronger potential candidates, Harding intended from the start to run a low-key campaign that would position himself as the alternative to the chaotic open field left by Roosevelt's death. As he told campaign manager Frank Scobey, "It has been my own judgment not to go at it too vigorously in order to reach the high tide of our publicity movement until late in the campaign. Some enterprises make such a booming start that they fizzle out later on."^[22]

There were at least ten serious contenders at the onsent of the campaign: Wood, Harding, Lowden, Coolidge,Hiram Johnson,Howard Sutherland,William Cameron Sproul,Miles Poindexter,Herbert Hoover, andNicholas Murray Butler. Only Wood, who had the support of major corporations, and Lowden, who acquired a fortune through his marriage to heiressFlorence Pullman, were well-funded enough to run a public national campaign; other candidates sought mainly to influence delegate selection behind closed doors or compete in small-state primaries.^[23]

One of the key contests came late in April in Harding's home state of Ohio, which he would absolutely need to carry to stand any chance at the nomination.^[23] Wood's supporters in the state, led byWilliam C. Procter, surprised Harding by entering the general's name for the primary rather than letting Harding's status as afavorite son go unchallenged.^[23] Procter offered to withdraw Wood's name on the condition that he be declared the second choice of the Ohio delegates, but Harding flatly refused.^[23]

Wood hit the state with a barnstorming tour, dressed in his military uniform and echoing Roosevelt's progressivism. Harding declined to confront Wood directly, instead delivering speeches on the Republican mantra of "Americanism" as a contrast to internationalistWilsonian idealism:^[23]

"[We must] make sure our own house is in perfect order before we attempt the miracle of Old World stabilization. Call it selfishness or nationality if you will, I think it an inspiration to patriotic devotion: to safeguardAmerica first, to stabilize America first, to prosper America first, to think of America first, to exalt America first to live for and revere America first."^[24]

Harding was so confident in winning Ohio that he left the state early to campaign in Indiana. However, the result was a narrow victory over Wood, closer than anyone expected.^[23]

The Indiana primary was among the most sharply contested of the campaign, featuring four serious candidates in Wood, Lowden, Harding, and Hiram Johnson. Harding had been convinced to enter the primary by SenatorHarry New, one of his closest allies in the Senate.^[23]

Harding finished fourth with only nine percent of the vote. Having been humiliated in the only two primaries he contested outside his home state, Harding strongly considered withdrawing to focus on his re-election to the Senate.^[23] Instead, his wife convinced him to remain in the race and leverage his status as the Ohio candidate, as others had done before him, and win the nomination on a later ballot.^[23] His strategy now focused on becoming the "available man" in the event of a deadlock, securing secondary commitments from delegates who favored Wood, Lowden, or Johnson.

Tablemaker's Note:^[c]

On the eve of the convention, no man had secured enough support for the nomination. However, Wood and Lowden suffered a major blow when the Senate investigation into campaign expenditures was published. The subcommittee chaired byWilliam S. Kenyon revealed massive spending by both Wood and Lowden's campaigns, including two canceled checks from Lowden to Missouri delegates that could not be explained.^[75] Johnson was indirectly damaged by the investigation as well, since Wood and Lowden supporters blamed him for instigating it; the enmity between the front-runners appeared to ensure none could secure the others' support.^[75]

• 1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries

• Adams, Samuel Hopkins (1939).The Incredible Era: The Life and Times of Warren Gamaliel Harding. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.ISBN 0-374-90051-5.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Bagby, Wesley M. (March 1955). "The 'Smoke Filled Room' and the Nomination of Warren G. Harding".The Mississippi Valley Historical Review.41 (4):657–674.doi:10.2307/1889182.JSTOR 1889182.
• Dean, John W. (2004).Warren Harding. New York: Henry Holt and Co.ISBN 978-0-8050-6956-3.
• Eisenhower, John S.D. (2014).Teddy Roosevelt and Leonard Wood: Partners in Command. University of Missouri Press.
• Hagedorn, Hermann (1931).Leonard Wood: A Biography. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• Hutchinson, William T. (1957).Lowden of Illinois: The Life of Frank O. Lowden.University of Chicago Press.LCCN 57006274.
• Johnson, Hiram (1983).The diary letters of Hiram Johnson, 1917–1945. Garland Publishing.
• Lane, Jack C. (2009).Armed Progressive: General Leonard Wood. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 45–46.ISBN 978-0-8032-2658-6.
• Lower, Richard Coke (1993).A Bloc of One: The Political Career of Hiram W. Johnson. Stanford University Press.
• McCallum, Jack (2006).Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism. New York: New York University Press.ISBN 978-0-8147-5699-7 – viaGoogle Books.
• Miller, Nathan (1992).Theodore Roosevelt: A Life. New York: Morrow.ISBN 9780688067847.
• Morello, John A. (2001).Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding. Westport, CT: Praeger.ISBN 978-0-2759-7030-7 – viaGoogle Books.
• Morris, Edmund (2010).Colonel Roosevelt. New York: Random House.
• Russell, Thomas (1923).The Illustrious Life and Work of Warren G. Harding, Twenty-ninth President of the United States. the University of Wisconsin–Madison. p. 51.
• Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1957).The Age of Roosevelt: The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919–1933. London: Heinemann.ISBN 978-0-618-34085-9.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Shlaes, Amity (2013).Coolidge.New York:HarperCollins.ISBN 978-0-06-196755-9.LCCN 2012032098.
• Sinclair, Andrew (1969) [1965].The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1st Quadrangle Paperback ed.). Chicago: Quadrangle Books.OCLC 422550801.
• Weatherson, Michael A.; Bochin, Hal (1995).Hiram Johnson: Political Revivalist. University Press of America.
• Wood, Eric Fisher (1920).Leonard Wood, Conservator of Americanism. New York: George H. Doran Company – viaInternet Archive., a campaign biography of Wood
• Wynn, Neil (1986).From Progressivism to Prosperity: World War I and American Society. New York: Holmes & Meier.ISBN 978-0-8419-1107-9.

• 1920 United States Republican presidential primaries

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