| 1928 presidential election | |
  Nominees Hoover and Curtis | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 12–15, 1928 |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Venue | Convention Hall |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Herbert Hoover ofCalifornia |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Charles Curtis ofKansas |
| ‹ 1924 · 1932 › | |
The1928 Republican National Convention was held atConvention Hall inKansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928.[1]
Because PresidentCalvin Coolidge had announced unexpectedly he would not run for re-election in 1928, Commerce SecretaryHerbert Hoover became the natural front-runner for the Republican nomination. FormerIllinoisGovernorFrank Lowden andKansas SenatorCharles Curtis were candidates for the nomination but stood no chance against the popular and accomplished Hoover. ChicagoMayorWilliam Hale Thompson considered himself a candidate, but without the support ofRuth Hanna McCormick, his candidacy was unsuccessful.[2]
Hoover was nominated on the firstballot with 837 votes to 72 for Lowden and 64 for Curtis and the rest scattered. John L. McNab delivered Hoover's nomination address. In his acceptance speech, Hoover said, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty ever before in the history of any land." That and other optimistic remarks about the country's future were used against him in the1932 election, which he lost toFranklin Roosevelt.
After Coolidge announced that "I do not choose to run"[3] for a second full term in August 1927, Hoover emerged as the frontrunner. Illinois Governor Frank Lowden, Vice PresidentCharles Dawes, and SenatorsJames Eli Watson of Indiana,Charles Curtis of Kansas,Guy D. Goff of West Virginia, andFrank Willis of Ohio were potential challengers to Hoover.
Hoover had won respect by many for his work in the Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge administrations, but many party regulars distrusted his loyalty to the party on issues of both policy and patronage. Some progressive Republicans, such as California SenatorHiram Johnson, also disliked Hoover, but others, such as SenatorWilliam E. Borah, favored his candidacy. Many party leaders pressured Secretary of the TreasuryAndrew Mellon to run, but at 73, Mellon felt that he was too old to run in 1928. Mellon sought to convince former Secretary of State and 1916 Republican nomineeCharles Evans Hughes to run, but Hughes refused to campaign for the nomination.[4]
Theplatform praised the Coolidge administration for the prosperity of the mid-1920s, and promised reduction of thenational debt, tax reduction, retention of the protective tariff, opposition of cancellation of foreign debts, settlement of claims fromWorld War I from foreign governments, continuation of the Coolidge foreign policy, support of arbitration treaties, civil service protection, a tariff for agricultural protection and continued farm exports, aid to the coal-mining industry, continued appropriations for highway construction, the right tocollective bargaining, regulation of railroads, a continued independent American merchant marine, government supervision of radio facilities, construction of waterways to help transportation of bulk goods, support for war veterans, federal regulation ofpublic utilities, conservation, vigorous law enforcement, honest government, continued reclamation ofarid lands in theWest, improvement of air-mail service, restricted immigration andnaturalization of foreign immigrants in America, continued enforcement of theWashington Naval Treaty, and continued territory status forAlaska and Hawaii, and called for more women in public service, authority for the President to draft defense material resources and services, creation of anIndian Commission, and an Anti-Lynching Law, and promised continued "Home Rule for the American Citizen".
Hoover's forces won an early victory by securing adoption of an agricultural plank which endorsed President Coolidge's position on the question and rejected all principles of theMcNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill. Former Governor Lowden caused a sensation by announcing that since the agricultural plank was unsatisfactory, he withdrew from consideration as presidential nominee.
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Party leaders wanted Coolidge to run again, and he would have easily been nominated. He sentSecretary to the PresidentEverett Sanders to the convention to tell leaders of state delegations to vote for anyone else.[3] With no strong alternative, Hoover appeared to be the likely nominee at the start of the convention, but many in the party still opposed his candidacy. A "draft Coolidge" movement emerged, but the movement collapsed afterWilliam S. Vare,political boss of Philadelphia, unexpectedly supported Hoover. Coolidge remained silent, refusing to tell even the delegation from the president's home state of Vermont whether to support the draft. Curtis sought supporters of Hoover's rivals for his own candidacy.[5] However, Hoover won the nomination on the first ballot.
| Presidential Ballot[6] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | Unanimous |
| Hoover | 837 | 1,089 |
| Lowden | 74 | |
| Curtis | 64 | |
| Watson | 45 | |
| Norris | 24 | |
| Goff | 18 | |
| Coolidge | 17 | |
| Dawes | 4 | |
| Hughes | 1 | |
| Not Voting | 5 | |
Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 14, 1928)
| States[6] | Total delegates | Absent | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15 | 15 | |||||||||
| Arizona | 9 | 9 | |||||||||
| Arkansas | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| California | 29 | 29 | |||||||||
| Colorado | 15 | 15 | |||||||||
| Connecticut | 17 | 17 | |||||||||
| Delaware | 9 | 9 | |||||||||
| Florida | 10 | 9 | 1 | ||||||||
| Georgia | 16 | 15 | 1 | ||||||||
| Idaho | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| Illinois | 61 | 24 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Indiana | 33 | 33 | |||||||||
| Iowa | 29 | 7 | 22 | ||||||||
| Kansas | 23 | 23 | |||||||||
| Kentucky | 29 | 29 | |||||||||
| Louisiana | 12 | 11 | 1 | ||||||||
| Maine | 15 | 15 | |||||||||
| Maryland | 19 | 19 | |||||||||
| Massachusetts | 39 | 39 | |||||||||
| Michigan | 33 | 33 | |||||||||
| Minnesota | 27 | 11 | 15 | 1 | |||||||
| Mississippi | 12 | 12 | |||||||||
| Missouri | 39 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Montana | 11 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||
| Nebraska | 19 | 11 | 8 | ||||||||
| Nevada | 9 | 9 | |||||||||
| New Hampshire | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| New Jersey | 31 | 31 | |||||||||
| New Mexico | 9 | 7 | 2 | ||||||||
| New York | 90 | 90 | |||||||||
| North Carolina | 20 | 17 | 3 | ||||||||
| North Dakota | 13 | 4 | 8 | 1 | |||||||
| Ohio | 51 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Oklahoma | 20 | 20 | |||||||||
| Oregon | 13 | 13 | |||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 79 | 79 | |||||||||
| Rhode Island | 13 | 12 | 1 | ||||||||
| South Carolina | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| South Dakota | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||||||
| Tennessee | 19 | 19 | |||||||||
| Texas | 26 | 26 | |||||||||
| Utah | 11 | 9 | 2 | ||||||||
| Vermont | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| Virginia | 15 | 15 | |||||||||
| Washington | 17 | 17 | |||||||||
| West Virginia | 19 | 1 | 18 | ||||||||
| Wisconsin | 26 | 9 | 15 | 2 | |||||||
| Wyoming | 9 | 9 | |||||||||
| Alaska | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| District of Columbia | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Hawaii | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Philippines | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Puerto Rico | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Total | 1089 | 837 | 45 | 74 | 64 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 5 |
At the start of the convention, Vice PresidentCharles G. Dawes was perhaps the most likely running mate for Hoover. Other possibilities included former Kansas GovernorHenry Justin Allen, New Jersey SenatorWalter Edge, New Hampshire SenatorGeorge H. Moses, Connecticut RepresentativeJohn Q. Tilson, and AmbassadorAlanson B. Houghton. Curtis was also a possibility, but he was not yet ready to concede the presidential nomination to Hoover.[5]
After Hoover won the presidential nomination, Moses, Illinois SenatorCharles S. Deneen, and former Massachusetts GovernorChanning Cox were named as the most likely vice-presidential nominees, with a re-nomination for Dawes also a possibility.[7] Party leaders considered nominating Cox or Dawes, but Cox was vetoed by Utah SenatorReed Smoot, and Dawes was unacceptable to Hoover and Coolidge for supportingMcNary-Haugen.[8]
The convention turned to the farm vote in hopes of placating them for the unfavorably received farm relief plank. Curtis' name was entered by Senator Borah and his nomination was practically assured since the Lion of Idaho and other westerners had issued an ultimatum that a westerner must hold the vice presidency to placate the farmers. The Senate Majority Leader voted for the McNary-Haugen Bill which President Coolidge vetoed, but had refused to vote to override the veto of that measure. Curtis, possibly with the support of Coolidge, was nominated by the party leaders, and the convention ratified the choice.[8]
| Vice Presidential Ballot[9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | Unanimous |
| Curtis | 1,052 | 1,089 |
| Ekern | 19 | |
| Dawes | 13 | |
| MacNider | 2 | |
| Not Voting | 3 | |
Vice Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 15, 1928)
Each of the four days of the convention opened with a lengthyinvocation by a different clergymen—one Jewish, oneCatholic, oneEpiscopalian, oneMethodist.[10] Together, these four religious groups formed a majority of Americans at the time.[11]
All of the clergy were based in Missouri, where the convention was held. Each was listed among the convention officers as an official chaplain.[12][13]
On June 12, the opening prayer was given by BishopS. C. Partridge of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri.[14][15] Speakers on the second through fourth days were Catholic BishopThomas F. Lillis of the Diocese of Kansas City,[16][17] RabbiHerman M. Cohen of Congregation Keneseth Israel-Beth Sholom, Kansas City,[18][19] and BishopE. L. Waldorf of the Methodist Episcopal Diocese of Kansas City.[20][21][22]
| Preceded by 1924 Cleveland, Ohio | Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1932 Chicago, Illinois |
