1988 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 1984 January 14 to June 14, 1988 1992 →
2,044 delegates to theRepublican National Convention 1,023 (majority) votes needed to win
Candidate George H. W. Bush Bob Dole Pat Robertson Home state Texas Kansas Virginia Delegate count 1,525 463 207 Contests won 42 5 4 Popular vote 8,253,512 2,333,375 1,097,446 Percentage 67.9% 19.2% 9.0%
Gold denotes a state won byGeorge H. W. Bush.Green denotes a state won byPat Robertson.Purple denotes a state won byBob Dole.Grey denotes a territory that did not hold a primary.
Previous Republican nominee Ronald Reagan Republican nominee George H. W. Bush

From January 14 to June 14, 1988,Republican voters chose their nominee forpresident in the1988 United States presidential election. IncumbentVice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush was selected as the nominee through a series ofprimary elections andcaucuses culminating in the1988 Republican National Convention held from August 15 to August 18, 1988, inNew Orleans,Louisiana.

Bush selected Indiana SenatorDan Quayle as his running mate, and the Republican ticket went on to win the general election against the Democratic ticket ofMichael Dukakis andLloyd Bentsen by a wide margin. It was the third consecutive Republican victory in a presidential election, marking the first time since PresidentHarry S. Truman'ssurprise 1948 victory that any party held theWhite House for more than two terms. This was the last time an incumbent Republican vice president ran for the nomination.

Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush had the private support of PresidentRonald Reagan and publicly pledged to continue Reagan's policies, but also pledged a "kinder and gentler nation"^[1] in an attempt to win over some more moderate voters. Bush faced some prominent challengers for theGOP nomination, despite his front-runner status.

In 1987,Donald Trump, then known as a New York real estate executive and registered as a Republican, hinted in various television interviews that he was considering running for president.^[2] He took out a series of newspaper ads inThe New York Times,The Washington Post, andThe Boston Globe criticizingReagan's foreign policy for being too expensive.^[3][4] He also vocally advocated reducingforeign aid toJapan,Kuwait, andSaudi Arabia; acceleratingnuclear disarmament negotiations with theSoviet Union; and eliminating thefederal deficit.^[5] Mike Dunbar, an important Republican operative, started a "draft Donald Trump" movement to try to convince him to run in the New Hampshire primaries.^[4] However, Trump eventually announced at a political rally arranged by Dunbar inPortsmouth, New Hampshire, that he would not seek the Republican nomination.^[6] Later, Trump approached Bush's campaign managerLee Atwater asking to be considered as a possible choice for running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable."^[7] Apparently contradicting this report, Trump later asserted it was Atwater who approached him asking if he was interested in the position.^[8] Trump would eventually be elected president in2016, and receive a second term in2024.

Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in theIowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. Robertson did poorly in the subsequentNew Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries likeSuper Tuesday began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was inWashington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. However, his controversial win has been credited to procedural manipulation by Robertson supporters who delayed final voting until late into the evening when other supporters had gone home. He later spoke at the1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to theChristian Broadcasting Network and would remain there as a religious broadcaster until his death in 2023.

Bush unexpectedly came in third in theIowa caucus (that he had won back in 1980), behind SenatorBob Dole and Robertson. Dole was also leading in the polls of theNew Hampshire primary, and the Bush camp responded by running television commercials portraying Dole as a tax raiser, while GovernorJohn H. Sununu stumped for Bush. These efforts enabled the Vice President to defeat Dole and gain crucial momentum. Embittered by his loss in New Hampshire, Dole told Bush directly, on live television that evening, to "stop lying about my record."^[9]

Once the multiple-state primaries began, Bush's organizational strength and fundraising lead were impossible for the other candidates to match, and the nomination was his. The Republican party convention was held inNew Orleans, Louisiana. Bush was nominated unanimously.

In his acceptance speech, Bush made an energetic pledge, "Read my lips: No new taxes", a comment that would come to haunt him in the1992 election.

Candidate			Most recent office	Home State	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
George Bush			Vice President of the United States (1981–1989)	Texas	(Campaign) Secured nomination: April 26, 1988	8,253,512 (67.90%)	42	Dan Quayle

Candidate			Most recent office	Home State	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won
Bob Dole			U.S. Senator from Kansas (1969–1996)	Kansas	(campaign) Withdrew: March 29, 1988[10]	2,333,375 (19.19%)	5
Pat Robertson			Chair ofCBN	Virginia	(campaign) Withdrew: April 6, 1988[11]	1,097,446 (9.02%)	4
Jack Kemp			U.S. Representative (1971–1989)	New York	(campaign) Withdrew: March 9, 1988[12]	331,333 (2.72%)	0

• 
  FormerGovernor
  Pierre S. du Pont IV
  ofDelaware
  (withdrew Feb. 18)
• 
  FormerU.S. Secretary of State
  Alexander Haig
  ofPennsylvania
  (withdrew Feb. 12^[13])
  (endorsed Bob Dole)
• 
  FormerU.S. Senator
  Paul Laxalt
  ofNevada
  (withdrew Aug. 26, 1987)
• 
  FormerGovernor
  Harold Stassen
  ofMinnesota
• 
  Retired engineer
  Jack Fellure
  ofWest Virginia

• 
  FormerSecretary of Defense
  Donald Rumsfeld
  ofIllinois
  (withdrew April 2, 1987^[14])

• 
  Businessman
  Donald Trump
  ofNew York (declined October 22, 1987)
• 
  Governor
  George Deukmejian
  ofCalifornia (declined March 25, 1987)^[15]

Popular vote results:^[17]

• George H. W. Bush - 8,253,512 (67.90%)
• Bob Dole - 2,333,375 (19.19%)
• Pat Robertson - 1,097,446 (9.02%)
• Jack Kemp - 331,333 (2.72%)
• Unpledged - 756,990 (4.48%)
• Pierre S. du Pont IV - 49,783 (0.41%)
• Alexander Haig - 26,619 (0.22%)
• Harold Stassen - 2,682 (0.01%)

After Bush locked up the nomination in March,conventional wisdom leaned toward the notion of aSouthern running mate tobalance the ticket. The formerGovernor of Tennessee,Lamar Alexander, was seen by many as the most logical choice, and some early reports described him as Bush's personal preference.^[18][19] Another high-profile possibility, also from Tennessee, was the formerSenate Majority Leader andWhite House Chief of StaffHoward Baker. Despite the early attention – which included a supportive editorial written by former PresidentRichard Nixon – Baker told the press that he would prefer to be left out of consideration.^[20]

Bush's running mate, however, would not be revealed until August 16, allowing speculation to intensify all the way to the national convention. Bob Dole, who was considered a leading contender based on his second-place finish in the primaries, expressed impatience with the wait but nonetheless made plain his keen desire for the job.^[21] So too did Jack Kemp, who confidently told reporters that he would make "a terrific campaigner and a terrific candidate and a terrific vice president".^[21] Both men were thought to rank high on Bush's list of potential picks.^[22]

Other highly rated prospects included two people quite close to Dole. His wife,Elizabeth Dole, had served asTransportation Secretary under President Reagan and was a popular figure among conservatives and women – two key demographics that Bush was struggling to galvanize. A second option was Dole's fellow U.S. Senator from Kansas,Nancy Kassebaum.^[22] Other figures who were believed to be under Bush's close consideration included theGovernor of NebraskaKay Orr,^[19] the formerGovernor of PennsylvaniaDick Thornburgh, theGovernor of New JerseyTom Kean, and the sitting U.S. SenatorsBill Armstrong ofColorado,Pete Domenici ofNew Mexico, andRichard Lugar andDan Quayle, both ofIndiana.^[21][22]

U.S. SenatorAlan Simpson ofWyoming was also widely believed to be a possible selection, but he publicly stated that he wasn't interested in the position. This placed him in the company of Baker and others who had declared that they did not want to be considered, such as theGovernor of CaliforniaGeorge Deukmejian and theGovernor of IllinoisJim Thompson. Shortly ahead of the convention, however, Bush reopened speculation about all of them when he implied that he would not necessarily give up on any demurring prospects.^[21]

Long-shot possibilities included several Republicans who were popular in their home states but held limited name recognition nationally, such as U.S. RepresentativeLynn Martin ofIllinois, theGovernor of South CarolinaCarroll Campbell, and the two U.S. Senators ofMissouri,John Danforth andChristopher Bond.^[22] Nontraditional selections who were seen as credible alternatives included theNational Security AdvisorColin Powell,^[23] the formerUN AmbassadorJeane Kirkpatrick,Education SecretaryWilliam Bennett, formerEPA AdministratorWilliam Ruckelshaus, and evenSupreme Court JusticeSandra Day O'Connor.^[22]

Bush announced his selection of 41-year-old Dan Quayle on the second day of the convention.^[24]

• 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries

• Booknotes interview with Dayton Duncan onGrass Roots: One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, March 31, 1991.

• 1988 United States Republican presidential primaries
• George H. W. Bush
• Bob Dole
• Jack Kemp
• Pat Robertson
• Harold Stassen

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