1952 Republican National Convention

The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike", for president and then Richard M. Nixon of California for vice president.

The Republican platform pledged to end the unpopular war in Korea, supported the development of nuclear weapons as a deterrence strategy, to fire all "the loafers, incompetents and unnecessary employees" at the State Department, condemned the Roosevelt and Truman administrations' economic policies, supported retention of the Taft–Hartley Act, opposed "discrimination against race, religion or national origin", supported "Federal action toward the elimination of lynching", and pledged to bring an end to communist subversion in the United States.

Logistics

Television coverage

thumb|Dwight and [[Mamie Eisenhower watching a television during the convention]]

thumb|[[Quincy Howe and John Daly conducting ABC's convention coverage in 1952]]

The 1952 Republican convention was the first political convention to be televised live, coast-to-coast. Experiments in regionally broadcasting conventions took place during the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1948; however, 1952 was the first year in which networks carried nationwide coverage of political conventions. In his address, MacArthur condemned the Truman administration for America's perceived loss of status on the international stage, including criticism of the Yalta Conference and the administration's handling of the war in Korea. He curtailed his post-convention speeches and remained out of the public eye until after the election. Moderate and liberal Republicans (the "Eastern Establishment"), led by New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the party's unsuccessful presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948, were largely supporters of Eisenhower or Warren. In describing the party's failed presidential campaigns of 1940, 1944 and 1948, he pointed at Dewey, who was seated with the New York delegation, and shouted "We followed you before and you took us down the road to defeat!" Dirksen's condemnation of Dewey touched off sustained anti-Dewey and pro-Taft demonstrations. McKeldin described Eisenhower's career at the highest levels of the military as evidence that he was able to assume the responsibilities of the presidency immediately and his international renown as an asset that would enable the party to unify its disparate wings and make inroads among Democratic and independent voters.

After the nominations were completed, including speeches on behalf of Earl Warren, Harold Stassen, and Douglas MacArthur, the delegates proceeded to vote.

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

File:Richard Nixon congressional portrait.jpg|

File:Portrait of California Senator William F. Knowland (cropped).jpg|Senator William Knowland of California

File:Governor Langlie.jpg|Governor Arthur B. Langlie of Washington

File:Dan Thornton (Colorado governor).jpg|Governor Daniel I. J. Thornton of Colorado

File:Henry Cabot Lodge Jr (R-MA) (cropped).jpg|Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts

File:Walter Judd.jpg|Representative Walter Judd of Minnesota

File:Charles A. Halleck.jpg|Representative Charles A. Halleck of Indiana

</gallery>

thumb|Eisenhower and Nixon stand with others on the convention hall stage

Senator Richard M. Nixon's speech at a state Republican Party fundraiser in New York City on May 8, 1952, impressed Governor Thomas E. Dewey, who was an Eisenhower supporter and had formed a pro-Eisenhower delegation from New York to attend the national convention. In a private meeting after the speech, Dewey suggested to Nixon that he would make a suitable vice presidential candidate on the ticket with Eisenhower.

thumb|A piece of literature for the Eisenhower–Nixon campaign, 1952

Nixon attended the convention as a delegate pledged to Earl Warren and represented California on the convention's platform committee. In pre-convention remarks to reporters, Nixon touted Warren as the most prominent dark horse and suggested that if Warren was not the presidential nominee, Nixon's Senate colleague William Knowland would be a good choice for vice president. As the convention proceedings continued, Warren became concerned that Nixon was working for Eisenhower while ostensibly pledged to Warren. Warren asked Paul H. Davis of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, who had been a vice president at Columbia University while Eisenhower was the school's president, to tell Eisenhower that Warren resented such actions and wanted them to stop. Eisenhower informed Davis that he did not oppose Warren, because if Taft and Eisenhower deadlocked, then Warren would be his first choice for the nomination. In the same conversation, Eisenhower indicated that if he won the nomination, Nixon would be his first choice for the vice presidency, because Eisenhower believed the party needed to promote leaders who were aggressive, capable, and young. Eisenhower later developed a list of seven potential candidates, with Nixon's name at the top.

After Eisenhower was nominated, his key supporters met to discuss vice presidential possibilities. Eisenhower informed the group's chairman, Herbert Brownell Jr. that he did not wish to appear to dictate to the convention by formally sponsoring a single candidate, so the group reviewed several, including Taft, Everett Dirksen, and Alfred E. Driscoll, all of whom they quickly rejected. Dewey then raised Nixon's name; the group quickly concurred. Brownell checked with Eisenhower, who indicated his approval. Brownell then called Nixon to inform him that he was Eisenhower's choice. Nixon accepted, then departed for Eisenhower's hotel room to discuss the details of the campaign and Eisenhower's plans for his vice president if the ticket was successful in the general election.

A group of women delegates (led by former congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce) had hopes of putting forward a female vice presidential candidate. This group sought to nominate Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, but Smith requested that her name not be used. Noting that Eisenhower's supporters had coalesced around Nixon, Luce withdrew her nomination of Smith.

The delegates soon assembled to formalize the selection. Nixon asked Knowland to nominate him, and Knowland agreed. After Taft supporter John W. Bricker declined Nixon's request to second the nomination, Driscoll agreed to do so. There were no other candidates, and Nixon was nominated by acclamation.

References

External links

Republican Party platform of 1952 at The American Presidency Project
Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
Video of Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC from C-SPAN (via YouTube)
Audio of Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC