| 1916 presidential election | |
  Nominees Hughes and Fairbanks | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | June 7–10, 1916 |
| City | Chicago,Illinois |
| Venue | Chicago Coliseum[1] |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Charles Evans Hughes ofNew York |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Charles W. Fairbanks ofIndiana |
| ‹ 1912 · 1920 › | |
The1916 Republican National Convention was held inChicago from June 7 to June 10. A major goal of the party's bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the1912 presidential campaign. In that year,Theodore Roosevelt bolted the GOP and formed his own political party, theProgressive Party, which contained most of the GOP's liberals.William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, won the nomination of the regular Republican Party. This split in the GOP ranks divided the Republican vote and led to the election of DemocratWoodrow Wilson.
Although several candidates were openly competing for the 1916 nomination—most prominently conservative SenatorElihu Root ofNew York, SenatorJohn W. Weeks ofMassachusetts, and liberal SenatorAlbert Cummins ofIowa—the party's bosses wanted a moderate who would be acceptable to all factions of the party. They turned toSupreme Court JusticeCharles Evans Hughes, who had served on the court since 1910 and thus had the advantage of not having publicly spoken about political issues in six years. Although he had not sought the nomination, Hughes made it known that he would not turn it down; he won the presidential nomination on the third ballot. Former Vice PresidentCharles W. Fairbanks was nominated as his running mate.
Hughes is the only Supreme Court Justice to be nominated for president by a major political party. Fairbanks is the last former vice president to be nominated for vice president.
Then-SenatorWarren G. Harding is credited with coining the phrase "Founding Fathers" during his keynote address.
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At the start, Supreme Court JusticeCharles Evans Hughes was widely seen as the favorite due to his ability to unite the party, though the nomination of a dark horse candidate such as Massachusetts SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge or GeneralLeonard Wood seemed possible.[2] Many Republicans sought to nominate a candidate palatable toTheodore Roosevelt in hopes of averting another third-party run by progressive Republicans, though these Republicans were unwilling to nominate Roosevelt himself.[2] Roosevelt's influence put a stop to the potential presidential candidacies of former Ohio SenatorTheodore E. Burton and current Ohio SenatorWarren G. Harding.[2] Former Vice PresidentCharles W. Fairbanks made a run at the presidency and attempted to curry Roosevelt's support, but Roosevelt refused to support Fairbanks.[3] Hughes won the nomination on the third ballot, and Roosevelt chose to forgo a third-party bid.
| Presidential Ballot[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Unanimous |
| Hughes | 253.5 | 328.5 | 949.5 | 987 |
| Weeks | 105 | 79 | 3 | |
| Root | 103 | 98.5 | 0 | |
| Fairbanks | 74.5 | 88.5 | 0 | |
| Cummins | 85 | 85 | 0 | |
| Roosevelt | 65 | 81 | 18.5 | |
| Burton | 77.5 | 76.5 | 0 | |
| Sherman | 66 | 65 | 0 | |
| Knox | 36 | 36 | 0 | |
| Ford | 32 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brumbaugh | 29 | 0 | 0 | |
| La Follette | 25 | 25 | 3 | |
| Taft | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| du Pont | 12 | 13 | 5 | |
| Lodge | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wanamaker | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Willis | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Borah | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Harding | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| McCall | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wood | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Not Voting | 2.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| Not Represented | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 9, 1916)
Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 10, 1916)
Former Vice PresidentCharles W. Fairbanks had no interest in serving another term as vice president, but when the party nominated him, he accepted the nomination.[5]
| Vice Presidential Ballot | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st | Unanimous |
| Fairbanks | 863 | 987 |
| Burkett | 108 | |
| Borah | 8 | |
| Webster | 2 | |
| Burton | 1 | |
| Johnson | 1 | |
| Not Voting | 4 | |
| Not Represented | 4 | 4 |
Vice Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 10, 1916)
Coinciding with the Republican convention, both theCongressional Union for Woman Suffrage and theNational American Woman Suffrage Association held conventions in Chicago.[6] The Congressional Union, at their convention in theAuditorium Theatre, promoted the so-called "Susan B. Anthony Amendment" , later ratified as the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constiution.[7] The Congressional Union also created theNational Woman's Party at their event.[8]
| Preceded by 1912 Chicago, Illinois | Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1920 Chicago, Illinois |
