| 1872 presidential election | |
.jpg)  Nominees Greeley and Brown | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | July 9–10, 1872 |
| City | Baltimore,Maryland |
| Venue | Ford's Grand Opera House, East Fayette Street (between North Howard & Eutaw Streets) |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Horace Greeley ofNew York |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Benjamin Gratz Brown ofMissouri |
| ‹ 1868 · 1876 › | |
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The1872 Democratic National Convention was apresidential nominating convention held atFord's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, inBaltimore, Maryland on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in the nomination of newspaper publisherHorace Greeley ofNew York andGovernorBenjamin Gratz Brown ofMissouri forpresident andvice president, a ticket previously nominated by the rumpLiberal Republican factionconvention meeting, also held in Baltimore's newly built premierOpera House of nationally well-known theatre owner/operatorJohn T. Ford (infamous as the owner of theFord's Theatre inWashington, D.C. where 16th PresidentAbraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865) of the majorRepublican Party, which had already re-nominated incumbent PresidentUlysses S. Grant of the regularRepublicans for another term.[1]
The convention was called to order byDemocratic National Committee chairmanAugust Belmont.Thomas Jefferson Randolph served as the convention's temporary chairman andJames R. Doolittle served as permanent president. At six hours in length, stretched over two days, the convention was the shortest meeting of a major political party convention in history.[2]
Accepting the "Liberal Republican" platform meant theDemocrats had accepted the "New Departure", rejecting the anti-Reconstruction platform of 1868: they realized that in order to win, they had to look forward and not try to refight theCivil War.[3]
While Greeley's long reputation in the years before as the most aggressive attacker of the earlier Democratic Party, its principles, its leadership, and its activists cooled enthusiasm among many of the delegates for the potential nominee, it was accepted that the Democrats would only split the anti-Grant vote and all but assure Grant of re-election if they nominated any other candidate.
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Major General William B. Franklin was approached by a group of Democrats from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who urged him to run againstHorace Greeley for the party's presidential nomination. Citing a need for party unity, Franklin declined their suggestion. On the first ballot, Pennsylvania and New Jersey would cast the majority of votes against Greeley.
Horace Greeley received 686 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot. The motion to have Greeley's nomination be declared unanimous was carried.
| Presidential Ballot | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Unanimous | |
| Greeley | 686 | 732 |
| Black | 21 | 0 |
| Bayard | 15 | 0 |
| Groesbeck | 2 | 0 |
| Not Voting | 8 | 0 |
Source:Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872. (September 3, 2012).
Benjamin G. Brown received 713 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot.
| Vice Presidential Ballot | |
|---|---|
| 1st | |
| Brown | 713 |
| Stevenson | 6 |
| Not Voting | 13 |
Source:Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872. (September 3, 2012).
A splinter, conservative group of Democrats broke off due to their dissatisfaction with the nomination of Greeley.
Calling themselves theStraight-Out Democrats, they held a Straight-Out Democratic National Convention inLouisville, Kentucky. They nominated for PresidentCharles O'Conor, who told them by telegram that he would not accept their nomination, andJohn Quincy Adams II for vice president. The candidates received 23,054 votes (0.35%) in the election, and noElectoral College electors.
| Preceded by 1868 New York, New York | Democratic National Conventions | Succeeded by 1876 St. Louis, Missouri |