The 1924 Democratic National Convention, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, 1924, was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history. It took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the first major party national convention that saw the name of a woman, Lena Springs, placed in nomination for vice president. John W. Davis, a dark horse, eventually won the presidential nomination on the 103rd ballot, a compromise candidate following a protracted convention fight between distant front-runners William Gibbs McAdoo and Al Smith.
Davis and his vice presidential running-mate, Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska, went on to be defeated by the Republican ticket of President Calvin Coolidge and Charles G. Dawes in the 1924 presidential election.
Site selection New York had not been chosen for a convention since 1868, and its selection as the site for the 1924 convention was based in part on the state party's recent success. Two years earlier, thirteen Republican congressmen had lost their seats to Democrats. Wealthy New Yorkers, who had outbid other cities, declared their purpose "to convince the rest of the country that the town was not the red-light menace generally conceived by the sticks". Though "dry" organizations that supported continuing the prohibition of alcohol opposed the choice, in the fall of 1923 it won the grudging consent of McAdoo, a dry, before McAdoo's connection to the Teapot Dome scandal made Smith a serious threat. (McAdoo's candidacy was hurt by the revelation that he had accepted money from Edward L. Doheny, an oil tycoon implicated in Teapot Dome.) McAdoo's adopted state, California, had played host to the Democrats in 1920.
Logistics The convention was the first Democratic National Convention to have its proceedings broadcast on radio. Millions across the United States heard the broadcasts.
Despite very heated disputes arising among delegates to the convention, political violence was mostly averted. The New York Herald Tribune reported, "there was no bloodshed only because 1,000 New York policemen had been sent there to preserve order in a convention, the leaders of which believed was going to become a riot." Nevertheless, there were some instances of violence, such as a convention floor fistfight in which Colorado Governor William Ellery Sweet was knocked to the ground and stepped on. Amid this fight, the convention chairman pounded his gavel so furiously in attempting to call for order, that he accidentally caused the head of his gavel to break off and fly into the head of a man (who consequentially suffered a concussion).
The primaries
McAdoo swept the primaries in the first real race in the history of the party, although most states chose delegates through party organizations and conventions, giving most of their projected votes to local or hometown candidates, referred to as "favorite sons".
Ku Klux Klan presence
The Ku Klux Klan had surged in popularity after World War I, due to its leadership's connections to passage of the successful Prohibition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This made the Klan a political power throughout many regions of the United States, and it reached the apex of its power in the mid-1920s, when it exerted deep cultural and political influence on both Republicans and Democrats. Its supporters had successfully quashed an anti-Klan resolution before it ever went to a floor vote at the 1924 Republican National Convention earlier in June, and proponents expected to exert the same influence at the Democratic convention. Instead, tension between pro- and anti-Klan delegates produced an intense and sometimes violent showdown between convention attendees from the states of Colorado and Missouri. Klan delegates opposed the nomination of New York governor Al Smith because Smith was a Roman Catholic and an opponent of Prohibition, and most supported William Gibbs McAdoo. Non-Klan delegates, led by Sen. Oscar Underwood of Alabama, attempted to add condemnation of the organization for its violence to the Democratic Party's platform. The measure was narrowly defeated, and the anti-KKK plank was not included in the platform.
Policy disputes Heated policy disputes arose at the convention, dividing delegates. One was the proposed anti-KKK platform plank. Others included disagreements over prohibition and whether the United States should join the League of Nations.
Roosevelt comeback
Smith's name was placed into nomination by Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a speech in which Roosevelt dubbed Smith "The Happy Warrior". Roosevelt's speech, which has since become a well-studied example of political oratory, was his first major political appearance since the paralytic illness he had contracted in 1921. The success of this speech and his other convention efforts in support of Smith signaled that he was still a viable figure in politics, and he nominated Smith again in 1928. Roosevelt succeeded Smith as governor in 1929, and went on to win election as president in 1932.
Results
Presidential candidates
The first day of balloting (June 30) brought the predicted deadlock between the leading aspirants for the nomination, William G. McAdoo of California and Gov. Alfred E. Smith of New York, with the remainder divided mainly between local "favorite sons". McAdoo was the leader from the outset, and both he and Smith made small gains in the day's fifteen ballots, but the prevailing belief among the delegates was that the impasse could only be broken by the elimination of both McAdoo and Smith and the selection of one of the other contenders; much interest centred about the candidacy of John W. Davis, who also increased his vote during the day from 31 to 61 (with a peak of 64.5 votes on the 13th and 14th ballots). Most of the favorite son delegations refused to be stampeded to either of the leading candidates and were in no hurry to retire from the contest.Oulahan, Richard V., "M'Adoo Ahead on 15th Ballot With 479, Smith 305 1/2; Governor Gains 64 1/2 During Day to his Rival's 47 1/2; J.B. Davis Third With 61: Adjourn to 10:30 a.m. Today", The New York Times, July 1, 1924.
In the early balloting many delegations appeared to be jockeying for position, and some of the original votes were purely complimentary and seemed to conceal the real sentiments of the delegates. Louisiana, for example, which was bound by the "unit rule" (all the state's delegate votes would be cast in favor of the candidate favored by a majority of them), first complimented its neighbor Arkansas by casting its 20 votes for Sen. Joseph T. Robinson, then it switched to Sen. Carter Glass, and on another ballot Maryland Gov. Albert C. Ritchie got the twenty, before the delegation finally settled on John W. Davis.
There was some excitement on the tenth ballot, when Kansas abandoned Gov. Jonathan M. Davis and threw its votes to McAdoo. There was an instant uproar among McAdoo delegates and supporters, and a parade was started around the hall, the Kansas standard leading, with those of all the other McAdoo states coming along behind, and pictures of "McAdoo, Democracy's Hope", being lifted up. After six minutes the chairman's gavel brought order and the roll call resumed, and soon the other side had something to cheer, when New Jersey made its favorite son, Gov. George S. Silzer, walk the plank and threw its votes into the Smith column. This started another parade, the New York and New Jersey standards leading those of the other Smith delegations around the hall while the band played "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching".
First ballot
Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 1st ballotCandidateVotesPercentage William G. McAdoo 431.5 39.4% Alfred E. Smith24122.0%James M. Cox595.4%Pat Harrison43.54.0%Oscar W. Underwood42.53.9% George S. Silzer383.5%John W. Davis312.8%Samuel M. Ralston302.7%Woodbridge N. Ferris302.7%Carter Glass252.3% Albert C. Ritchie22.52.1% Joseph T. Robinson211.9%Jonathan M. Davis201.8%Charles W. Bryan181.6%Fred H. Brown171.6%William Ellery Sweet121.1%Willard Saulsbury70.6%John Kendrick60.5% Houston Thompson10.1%
Fifteenth ballot
Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 15th ballotCandidateVotesPercentageWilliam G. McAdoo47943.6%Alfred E. Smith305.527.8%John W. Davis615.6%James M. Cox605.5%Oscar W. Underwood39.53.6%Samuel M. Ralston312.8%Carter Glass252.3%Pat Harrison20.51.9%Joseph T. Robinson20.51.9%Albert C. Ritchie17.51.6%Jonathan M. Davis111.0%Charles W. Bryan111.0%Fred H. Brown90.8%Willard Saulsbury60.5%Thomas J. Walsh10.1%Newton D. Baker10.1%
Twentieth ballot McAdoo and Smith each evolved a strategy to build up his own total slowly. Smith's trick was to plant his extra votes for his opponent, so that McAdoo's strength might later appear to be waning; the Californian countered by holding back his full force, though he had been planning a strong early show. But by no sleight of hand could the convention have been swung around to either contestant. With the party split into two assertive parts, the rule requiring a two-thirds vote for nomination crippled the chances of both candidates by giving a veto each could—and did—use. McAdoo himself wanted to drop the two-thirds rule, but his Protestant supporters preferred to keep their veto over a Catholic candidate, and the South regarded the rule as protection against a northern nominee unfavorable to southern interests. At no point in the balloting did Smith receive more than a single vote from the South and scarcely more than 20 votes from the states west of the Mississippi; he never won more than 368 of the 729 votes needed for nomination, though even this performance was impressive for a Roman Catholic. McAdoo's strength fluctuated more widely, reaching its highest point of 528 on the seventieth ballot. Since both candidates occasionally received purely strategic aid, the nucleus of their support was probably even less. The remainder of the votes were divided among dark horses and favorite sons who had spun high hopes since the Doheny testimony; understandably, they hesitated to withdraw their own candidacies as long as the convention was so clearly divided. Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 20th ballotCandidateVotesPercentageWilliam G. McAdoo43239.5%Alfred E. Smith307.528.0%John W. Davis12211.3%Oscar W. Underwood45.54.1%Samuel M. Ralston302.7%Carter Glass252.3%Joseph T. Robinson211.9%Albert C. Ritchie17.51.6%Others97.58.6%
Thirtieth ballot As time passed, the maneuvers of the two factions took on the character of desperation. Daniel C. Roper even went to Franklin Roosevelt, reportedly to offer Smith second place on a McAdoo ticket. For their part, the Tammany men tried to prolong the convention until the hotel bills were beyond the means of the delegates who had traveled to the convention. The Smith backers also attempted to stampede the delegates by packing the galleries with noisy rooters. Senator James Phelan of California, among others, complained of "New York rowdyism". But the rudeness of Tammany, particularly their delegates' booing of William Jennings Bryan when he spoke to the convention, only steeled the resolution of the country delegates. McAdoo and Bryan both tried unsuccessfully to adjourn and then reconvene in another city, perhaps Washington, D.C., or St. Louis.
Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 30th ballotCandidateVotesPercentageWilliam G. McAdoo415.537.7%Alfred E. Smith323.529.4%John W. Davis126.511.5%Oscar W. Underwood39.53.6%Samuel M. Ralston333.0%Carter Glass242.2%Joseph T. Robinson232.1%Albert C. Ritchie17.51.6%Others95.59.9%
Forty-second ballot Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 42nd ballotCandidateVotesPercentageWilliam G. McAdoo503.445.7%Alfred E. Smith318.628.9%John W. Davis676.0%Others209.019.4%
Sixty-first ballot