The 1928 Democratic National Convention was held at Sam Houston Hall in Houston, Texas, June 26–28, 1928. The keynote speaker was Claude G. Bowers. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for president and Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas for vice president.
The convention was the first held by either party in the South since the Civil War. It was also the first to nominate a Roman Catholic for president, Al Smith. The Texas delegation, led by Governor Dan Moody, was vehemently opposed to Smith. Therefore, when Smith was nominated, they rallied against his anti-prohibition sentiment by fighting for a "dry", prohibitionist platform. Ultimately, the convention pledged "honest enforcement of the Constitution".
Smith became the first Democrat since Reconstruction to lose more than one southern state in the general election, due to his "wet" stance, his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, and his Catholicism.
The convention was held in very hot summer weather in a venue without air conditioning.
Presidential nomination Presidential candidates
Other candidates for the nomination possibly included: James T. Heflin, U.S. senator from Alabama William G. McAdoo, former Treasury Secretary from California Henry T. Rainey, U.S. representative from Illinois Thomas J. Walsh, U.S. senator from Montana
Presidential BallotingCandidate1st (Before Shifts)1st (After Shifts)Smith724.67849.67Hull71.8350.83George52.5052.50Reed4852Pomerene473Jones4343Woollen327Harrison208.50Ayres203Watts1818Hitchcock162Donahey55Thompson22Bilbo01Not Voting02.50
Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 28, 1928)
Vice presidential nomination Vice presidential candidates
Joseph T. Robinson was chosen as the vice presidential nominee.
Other candidates for the nomination possibly included: Gilbert Hitchcock, former senator from Nebraska James A. Reed, senator from Missouri Atlee Pomerene former senator from Ohio Cordell Hull, Congressman from Tennessee John H. Taylor
Vice Presidential BallotingCandidate1st (Before Shifts)1st (After Shifts)Robinson914.171,035.17Barkley779Ross332Allen2821Berry17.5011.50Moody9.339.33Fletcher77Taylor60Stevenson42Woollen22Tumulty10Not Voting11
Vice Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 28, 1928)
See also Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1928 List of Democratic National Conventions U.S. presidential nomination convention 1928 United States presidential election 1928 Republican National Convention History of the United States Democratic Party
References
External links Governor Moody and the "Dry" Platform Democratic Party Platform of 1928 at The American Presidency Project Smith Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project