The 1996 Republican National Convention convened at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996. The convention nominated Senator Bob Dole from Kansas, for president and former representative and secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp, from suburban Buffalo, New York, for vice president.

Background

Political context

After a bitter primary, Dole had secured the Republican presidential nomination—but at high cost, financially and politically. The Party had lost momentum after President Bill Clinton successfully co-opted the historically Republican issues of crime and welfare reform and portrayed Speaker Newt Gingrich as an extremist.

Within his own party, Dole was under pressure from both sides of the political spectrum. Social liberals such as California governor Pete Wilson and Massachusetts governor Bill Weld loudly argued to remove the Human Life Amendment plank from the convention platform. On the right, primary opponents Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes withheld endorsements—Buchanan staged a rally for his supporters in nearby Escondido on the eve of the San Diego convention. Indeed, past comments by Kemp labeling Dole as a tax-raiser surfaced. The long, bitter primary had also left the Dole campaign short of funds as a result of federal election spending limits in the months leading up to the convention.

The Dole campaign sought to use the convention to unite the party, to appeal to political moderates, and to highlight Dole's honorable service in World War II and in the U.S. Senate. Nearly all floor speeches were delivered by moderate or liberal Republicans, including the keynote address by New York Representative Susan Molinari, and Dole was nominated by fellow veteran and Arizona Senator John McCain. Gingrich, who less than two years earlier had been a star of the party, was denied a prime time slot altogether, as was Buchanan, who had finished in second place for the nomination, with over 200 delegates. However, supporters in the socially conservative grassroots organizations such as the Christian Coalition directed the convention to adopt a conservative platform with little controversy, and Buchanan released his delegates at the last minute.

The convention ran smoothly overall, and the Dole-Kemp team seemed to benefit in the short term. Opinion polls taken shortly after the conclusion of the convention showed the Republicans with a significant "bump" of increased support. However, this bump was extremely temporary, and they continued to trail the incumbent Clinton-Gore team; they went on to lose the election by almost nine points.

Site selection

The Republican National Committee asked 30 cities to submit bids. Their finalist cities were Chicago, New Orleans, New York City, San Antonio, and San Diego. Chicago withdrew after winning their bid to host the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

The 1996 RNC was the first presidential nominating convention to be held in San Diego, and the only Republican National Convention held in Southern California (the 1972 RNC was scheduled for the San Diego Sports Arena but relocated to Miami Beach, Florida, due to scandal). Indeed, San Diego's bid had been considered unlikely to win. The San Diego Convention Center was far smaller than its predecessor venues, the Astrodome in Houston and the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, and its normal seating layout left several sections and skyboxes with obstructed views. Ardent lobbying by Mayor Susan Golding, who some named as a potential candidate for U.S. Senate in 1998, and by Governor Wilson, himself to seek the 1996 presidential nomination, helped secure San Diego's selection in 1994.

Bids

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Finalist cities

|-

! rowspan =2| City !! colspan=2| Venue !! rowspan =2|Proposed financing for convention !! rowspan =2| Previous major party conventions hosted by city

|-

! Name !! Capacity

|-

| Chicago, Illinois (withdrew bid) || United Center || || ||Democratic: 1864, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1932, 1940, 1944, 1952, 1956, 1968<br>Republican: 1860, 1868, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1952, 1960

|-

| New Orleans, Louisiana || Louisiana Superdome || 40,000 || $14.6 million || Republican: 1988

|-

| New York City, New York || Madison Square Garden || 20,924 || $30.5 million || Democratic: 1868, 1924, 1976, 1980, 1992

|-

| San Antonio, Texas || Alamodome || 43,311 || $17.3 million ||

|-

| San Diego, California || San Diego Convention Center || 18,000 || $14 million ||

|}

;Other bids

In mid-February 1994, Los Angeles, California, withdrew its bid to have the Los Angeles Convention Center host the convention, citing the previous month's 1994 Northridge earthquake as the reason the city could not afford to finance the hosting of such an event in 1996.

In late-March 1994, St. Louis, Missouri, withdrew its bid.

Logistics

thumb|right|The [[San Diego Convention Center was the site of the 1996 Republican National Convention]]

The San Diego Host Committee, "Sail to Victory '96," was organized on September 8, 1995.

This was the first national party convention since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which sparked heightened concerns over terrorism. The possibility that the explosion of TWA Flight 800 weeks before was a terrorist incident also weighed on convention planners. The Convention Center was located on the waterfront, near a harbor frequented by thousands of small boats—upon one of which Dole and Kemp made their ceremonial arrival. The police, Coast Guard, and other security presence was massive.

Convention planners situated the designated protest area several blocks away from the convention center, sparking criticism and legal action. It was later moved to a parking lot closer to the building which had originally been designated as an ADA-compliant transportation hub.

The convention was successful for San Diego, bringing positive publicity to the city and its revitalized waterfront and Gaslamp Quarter. The convention committee, however, overran its budget by some $20 million, largely because of the extra costs of security.

Due to the limited ceiling height of the convention hall, the podium was elevated a mere above the convention floor, significantly lower than the podium had been elevated at the preceding 1992 Republican convention. Due to the small space in the convention hall, thousands of credentialed convention-goers were relegated to watching the convention via television screens in secondary rooms in the convention complex. To warn speakers when their allotted speaking time was running out, a light was mounted on the podium. The convention even built its schedule to anticipate and accommodate commercial breaks on the networks broadcasting the convention live. Television pundits expressed their displeasure with how choreographed and non-spontaneous the convention proceedings were, and television viewership of the convention were lower than any previous nationally television conventions.

One of the chief Dole operatives tasked with overseeing convention preparations was Paul Manafort.

The cost associated with setting up the convention hall itself were reported to be between $5 million and $7 million.

Convention speakers

John Marelius of the San Diego Union-Tribune described the convention's lineup of speakers as portraying a, "diverse, inclusive Republican Party of stirring orators, women, minorities, disabled people and Democrats who switched parties." Marelius regarded the convention as contrasting with the preceding 1992 Republican convention, which had given prominent platform for Pat Buchanan's "religious war". Some religious conservatives took issue with the sparse inclusion of "pro-life" (anti-abortion) rhetoric in the convention.

Schedule

Day one: Monday, August 12

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Speaker

!Position/Notability

|-

|80x80px

|Gerald Ford

|38th President of the United States (1974-1977)

|-

|80x80px

|George H. W. Bush

|41st President of the United States (1989-1993)

|-

|80x80px

|Colin Powell

|Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993)

Former U.S. National Security Advisor (1987-1989)

|-

|74x74px

|Nancy Reagan

|Former First Lady of the United States (1981-1989)

|-

|

|Mary Fisher

Hydeia Broadbent

|HIV/AIDS activists

|}thumb|[[J. C. Watts speaking on August 13]]

Day two: Tuesday, August 13

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Speaker

!Position/Notability

|-

|80x80px

|Susan Molinari

|U.S. Congresswoman from NY-19 (1990-1997)

Vice Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference (1995-1997)

(keynote address)

|-

|79x79px

|George W. Bush

|46th Governor of Texas (1995-2000)

Son of George H. W. Bush

(call to order)

|-

|73x73px

|John Kasich

|U.S. Congressman from OH-12 (1983-2001)

|-

|72x72px

|J. C. Watts

|U.S. Congressman from OK-04 (1995-2003)

|-

|79x79px

|Kay Bailey Hutchison

|U.S. Senator from Texas (1993-2013)

|-

|73x73px

|Christine Todd Whitman

|50th Governor of New Jersey (1994-2001)

|-

|78x78px

|Newt Gingrich

|50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1995-1999)

Leader of the House Republican Conference (1995-1999)

U.S. Congressman from GA-06 (1979-1999)

|-

|76x76px

|John G. Rowland

|86th Governor of Connecticut (1995-2004)

|-

|79x79px

|John Engler

|46th Governor of Michigan (1991-2003)

|-

|78x78px

|Tommy Thompson

|42nd Governor of Wisconsin (1987-2001)

|-

|74x74px

|Tom Ridge

|43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995-2001)

|-

|

|Jim Edgar

|38th Governor of Illinois (1991-1999)

|-

|73x73px

|Bill Frist

|U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1995-2007)

|}

Day three: Wednesday, August 14

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Speaker

!Position/Notability

|-

|74x74px

|Elizabeth Dole

|20th U.S. Secretary of Labor (1989-1990)

8th U.S. Secretary of Transportation (1983-1987)<br>

speech by wife of presidential nominee

|-

|

|Robin Dole

|Daughter of Bob Dole

|-

|77x77px

|Ben Nighthorse Campbell

|U.S. Senator from Colorado (1993-2005)

|-

|78x78px

|Dan Quayle

|44th Vice President of the United States (1989-1993)

|-

|69x69px

|Jeane Kirkpatrick

|16th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1981-1985)

|-

|77x77px

|Fred Thompson

|U.S. Senator of Tennessee (1994-2003)

|-

|73x73px

|James A. Baker III

|44th U.S. Secretary of State (1989-1992)

67th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1985-1988)

|-

|78x78px

|Pete Wilson

|36th Governor of California (1991-1999)

|-

|

|Heather Whitestone McCallum

|Former Miss America Winner

|-

|78x78px

|John McCain

|U.S. Senator of Arizona (1987-2018) (Nomination of Bob Dole)

|-

|76x76px

|Henry Bonilla

|U.S. Congressman of TX-23 (1993-2007)

|-

|77x77px

|Wendy Lee Gramm

|Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1988-1993)

|-

| colspan="3" |Two further seconding speeches were delivered by two residents of Dole's hometown, Russell, Kansas

|-

|78x78px

|George Pataki

|53rd Governor of New York (1995-2006) (Nomination of Jack Kemp)

|-

|78x78px

|Lynne Cheney

|Wife of former Secretary of Defense <!-- and future Vice President -->Dick Cheney

|-

|80x80px

|Ken Blackwell

|48th Secretary of State of Ohio (1999-2007)

|-

|74x74px

|William Bennett

|3rd U.S. Secretary of Education (1985-1988)

|-

|77x77px

|Jerry Falwell

|Reverend (1956-2007) (Benediction speech)

|}

Day four: Thursday, August 15

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Speaker

!Position/Notability

|-

|

|Stephen Fong

|Committeeman from California

|-

|77x77px

|Jack Kemp

|9th U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1989-1993)

Vice Presidential Nominee

|-

|78x78px

|Bob Dole

|Former U.S. Senator from Kansas (1969-1996)

Former Senate Majority Leader (1995-1996; 1987-1988)

1976 Vice presidential nominee

Presidential Nominee

|}

Notable speeches

Bob Dole's presidential nomination acceptance speech

Dole's acceptance speech provided a heavy focus on the issue of trust, highlighting not just the need for the American public to have trust in government, but also the need for the government to have trust in the American public.

In his speech, Dole denounced intolerance, including racism and religious intolerance. Dole declared the Republican to be, "broad and inclusive," claiming that it represented, "many streams of opinion and many points of view". Dole exclaimed, "if there’s anyone who has mistakenly attached themselves to our party in the belief that we are not open to citizens of every race and religion, then let me remind you — tonight this hall belongs to the party of Lincoln, and the exits, which are clearly marked, are for you to walk out of as I stand this ground without compromise."

In comments that were seen as partially alluding to his longevity of age; Dole who at the age of 74, was older than any previous United States president had been when elected to their first term, hailed himself as prospectively being, "the bridge to a time of tranquility, faith and confidence in action," exclaiming, "to those who say it was never so, that America had not been better, I say, you're wrong, and I know. Because I was there. I have seen it. I remember."

The Houston Chronicle reviewed Dole's speech as making, " his strongest case yet," for why he should become president' The New York Times editorial board gave the speech a mixed review, describing it as illustrating, "both the strengths and the weaknesses" of Dole's candidacy. It took issue on Dole's criticism of Clinton's defense spending as insufficient, arguing that with his proposed 15% across-the-board tax cut, Dole was, "in no position to declare that he will spend more" on defense spending. John Marelius of the San Diego Union-Tribune characterized the speech as lacking either, "soaringly memorable language or a thematic spine." However, he also opined that, by highlighting the issue of mutual trust government and the public, Dole articulated, "a rationale for his candidacy that had so often been missing on the campaign trail."

| width = 35em

| align = right

| bgcolor = #FFB6B6

Jack Kemp, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the George H. W. Bush administration, gave his acceptance speech of the 1996 Republican vice presidential nomination right before Bob Dole gave his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination.

Elizabeth Dole

Presidential nominee Bob Dole's wife, Elizabeth, spoke at the convention. In tandem with his Democratic opponent Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, later speaking at the Democratic convention, 1996 became the year in which it became established practice that both major party candidates spouses speak at their party's convention. The Baltimore Sun observed in 1996, "Although not unheard of, wives of nominees do not routinely address presidential conventions." After she experienced technical difficulties with her lavalier microphone early into her speech, she was given a wireless handheld microphone. Her twenty-minute speech was much longer than any other speech delivered on that night of the convention. Her speech served to better humanize Bob Dole in the eyes of the American electorate. To further this, before her speech, Bob Dole's daughter Robin Dole had spoken for five minutes.

|width = 35em

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U.S. Representative and Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference Susan Molinari delivered the convention's keynote address.

Molinari's speech spoke of mothers like herself being, "stretched to the limit, trying to hold down a job while trying to hold down the fort at home, too," faulting Clinton for passing what she claimed was "the largest tax increase in history." Faulting Clinton, she claimed that, "now Americans pay almost 40 cents of every dollar they earn in taxes, the most ever. Every year Bill Clinton's been in office, taxes have been higher, and family incomes have been lower." She painted the Dole-Kemp ticket as offering an alternative to the scenario that she characterized.

CNN described Molinari's speech, which frequently mentioned her 3-month-old daughter and the children of other individuals, as perhaps intending to help lessen the gender gap shown in polls of women voters favoring the Democratic ticket.

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Former president George H. W. Bush, who been unseated in the previous 1992 election, delivered a speech on the convention's opening night.

Colin Powell

The wife of former president Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, spoke at the convention, expressing gratitude.

Stephen Fong

On the closing night of the convention, Stephen Fong, then-president of the San Francisco chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, spoke at the dais as part of a series of speeches from "mainstreet Americans," but was not publicly identified as gay. Fong was the first openly gay speaker at a Republican National Convention.

Musical performances

Among the musical performances at the convention was an August 15 performance by the "Singing Senators" (Senators Trent Lott, John Ashcroft, Larry Craig, and Jim Jeffords) who sang a barbershop quartet version of the song Elvira in dedication to Elizabeth Dole.

|-

! style="width: 17em" |Candidate

! style="width: 5em" |Votes

! style="width: 7em" |Percentage

|-

| Bob Dole

| align="right" | 1,928

| align="right" | 96.88%

|-

| Pat Buchanan

| align="right" | 43

| align="right" | 2.16%

|-

| Steve Forbes

| align="right" | 2

| align="right" | 0.10%

|-

| Alan Keyes

| align="right" | 1

| align="right" | 0.05%

|-

| Robert Bork

| align="right" | 1

| align="right" | 0.05%

|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"

| align="right" | Abstentions

| align="right" | 15

| align="right" | 0.75%

|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"

| align="right" | Totals

| align="right" | 1,990

| align="right" | 100.00%

|}

Vice presidential nominating vote

New York Governor George Pataki placed Jack Kemp's name into nomination, after which the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

was nominated by voice vote.

Impact

On August 16, the day after the close convention, John Marelius of the San Diego Union-Tribune characterized different polls as showing conflicting indicators as to whether Dole was rising or declining in the polls.

See also

  • 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries
  • History of the United States Republican Party
  • List of Republican National Conventions
  • U.S. presidential nomination convention
  • 1996 Democratic National Convention
  • 1996 Libertarian National Convention
  • 1996 United States presidential election
  • Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign

References

  • Bob Dole's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
  • Republican Party platform of 1996 at The American Presidency Project
  • PBS Online NewsHour: Convention: The GOP in San Diego, archive including transcripts, analysis, photographs, and streaming audio.
  • CNN AllPolitics: 1996 Republican National Convention, archived fact, news, chat and speech transcripts, and links
  • EmergencyNet News Service: GOP National Convention Security Plan, August 10, 1996
  • Video of Dole nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (via YouTube)
  • Audio of Dole nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
  • Video of Kemp nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube)
  • Audio of Kemp nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC
  • Transcript of Kemp nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC
  • Video (with full audio) of Susan Molinari's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention
  • Text of Susan Molinari's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention