Since 1992, speeches by spouses of presidential nominees have become a standard feature of major party United States presidential nominating conventions, and speeches by spouses of vice presidential nominees have also become a somewhat frequent feature as well.
There were several earlier instances where the wives of presidential nominees spoke at conventions, though it would not become a standard feature of convention's until after Barbara Bush's speech at the 1992 Republican convention. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first candidate's spouse to address a nominating convention, doing so at the 1940 Democratic convention. In her speech, Roosevelt delivered a speech highlighting the extraordinary stakes that should warrant her husband being granted a third term. It would not be until 1972 Republican convention that a second candidate's wife would deliver a speech to a convention, with Pat Nixon delivering brief welcoming remarks at that convention. Barbara Bush's remarks at the 1992 RNC, however, set a standard followed at subsequent conventions of the nominee's spouse delivering a lengthier speech that paints a humanizing portrait of nominee as a private individual. During the following election in 1996, both party's had the spouses of their presidential nominee address their conventions. Speeches by the spouse of party presidential nominees thereafter became a standard and expected aspect of major party presidential conventions. It would not be until the 2024 Republican convention that major party presidential nominee's spouse would again receive abstain from delivering such a speech at their respective nominating convention.
Early instances
Before 1996, speeches by nominee's spouses were not a regular component of presidential nominating conventions.
1940 marked the first instance in which a major party nominee's spouse spoke before a convention. With Franklin Delano Roosevelt securing nomination for an unprecedented third term, he sent his politically-active wife (First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt) to the 1940 Democratic National Convention to deliver a speech in which she argued that extraordinary times required unity, an argument intended to bolster sentiments support of her husband's efforts to win a third term in the general election.
The next nominee's spouse to speak before a convention was First Lady Pat Nixon, who delivered brief welcoming remarks at the 1972 Republican National Convention. Her remarks focused primarily on thanking those at the convention for supporting her husband's candidacy. Up through 1988, the subsequent instances in which nominee's spouses spoke at convention were of a similar nature to Nixon's. At the 1976 Republican National Convention, Betty Ford delivered brief informal remarks "accepting" an honorary personal nomination for first lady which actor Cary Grant offered her. At the 1988 Republican National Convention, Barbara Bush (wife of presidential nominee George H. W. Bush) delivered brief remarks in which she pledged her authenticity as a non-politician, declaring, "What you see with me is what you get. I'm not running for president ––George Bush is."
There had also been at least some occasion of a third party nominee's spouse addressing their nominating conventions. One such instance occurred at the 1952 Progressive National Convention, where Vivian Hallinan read a presidential nomination acceptance speech on behalf of her husband, Vincent Hallinan, who has serving a prison sentence at the time of the convention.
Modern tradition (1990s–present)
At the 1992 Republican National Convention, First Lady Barbara Bush delivered a speech that ushered in the modern mold for speeches by spouses of nominees. Her speech was centered upon anecdotes that painted a more humanizing image of her husband. The next presidential election, 1996, was the first in which the wives of both major party's presidential nominees spoke at their respective conventions. Speeches both by Elizabeth Dole at the 1996 Republican National Convention and Hillary Clinton at the 1996 Democratic National Convention established a modern convention of the spouses of both presidential nominees spouse speaking at their respective convention, which afterwards became a standard and expected feature of nominating conventions.
In 2016, Bill Clinton (himself a former president) became the first male spouse of a nominee to deliver a convention speech.
At the 2024 Republican National Convention, Melania Trump (who had been mostly absent from the campaign trail) abstained from the modern tradition of presidential nominees' spouses addressing convention. She was the first spouse of a presidential nominee to abstain from speaking at a convention since Hillary Clinton did not speak at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.Multiple sources:
Summary table (by year) Summary table (by year) Election Democratic Convention Republican Convention Notes Speech by presidentialnominee'sspouse Speech by VPnominee'sspouse Speech by presidentialnominee'sspouse Speech by VPnominee'sspouse before 1940 No speeches by spouses of nominees 1940 Yes (Eleanor Roosevelt)No (Ilo Wallace)No (Edith Wilkie)No (Cornelia McNary) Roosevelt (who spoke) was the incumbent first lady 1944–1968 No speeches by spouses of nominees 1972No (Eleanor McGovernNo (Barbara Eagleton)Yes (Pat Nixon)No (Judy Agnew) Nixon (who spoke) was the incumbent first lady; Agnew (who did not speak) was the incumbent second lady 1976No (Rosalynn Carter)No (Joan Mondale)Yes (Betty Ford)No (Elizabeth Dole) Ford (who spoke) was the incumbent first lady 1980 No (Rosalynn Carter) No (Joan Mondale) No (Nancy Reagan) No (Barbara Bush) Carter and Mondale (neither of whom spoke) were the incumbent first and second ladies 1984 No (Joan Mondale) No (John Zaccaro) Yes (Nancy Reagan)Multiple sources: No (Barbara Bush) Zaccaro (who did not speak) was the first male spouse of a major party nominee, his wife (Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro) was the first woman nominated on a major party presidential ticket; Reagan (who spoke) and Bush (who did not speak) were the incumbent first and second ladies 1988 No (Kitty Dukakis) No (B.A. Bentsen) Yes (Barbara Bush) No (Marilyn Quayle) Bush (who spoke) was also the incumbent second lady 1992No (Hillary Clinton)No (Tipper Gore)Yes (Barbara Bush)Yes (Marilyn Quayle) Bush and Quayle (both of whom spoke) were the incumbent first and second ladies 1996Yes (Hillary Clinton)Yes (Tipper Gore)Yes (Elizabeth Dole)No (Joanne Kemp) first year in which the spouse of both major party presidential nominees spoke; Clinton and Gore (both of whom spoke) were the incumbent first and second ladies 2000Yes (Tipper Gore)Yes (Hadassah Lieberman)Yes (Laura Bush)Yes (Lynne Cheney) Gore (who spoke) was also the incumbent second lady 2004Yes (Teresa Heinz)Yes (Elizabeth Edwards)Yes (Laura Bush)No (Lynne Cheney) Bush (who spoke) was the incumbent first lady; Cheney (who did not speak) was the incumbent second lady 2008Yes (Michelle Obama)No (Jill Biden)Yes (Cindy McCain)No (Todd Palin) Todd Palin (who did not speak) was the first male spouse of a Republican nominee, his wife (Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin) being the first female nominee on a Republican presidential ticket 2012Yes (Michelle Obama)Yes (Jill Biden)Multiple sources:Yes (Ann Romney)No (Janna Ryan) Obama and Biden (both of whom spoke) were the incumbent first and second ladies 2016Yes (Bill Clinton)No (Anne Holton)Yes (Melania Trump)No (Karen Pence) Clinton (who spoke, and was a former president) was the first nominee's spouse who had previously been a nominee themselves, as well as the first male spouse of a major party presidential nominee (his wife, Hillary, was the first female major party presidential nominee) 2020Yes (Jill Biden)No (Doug Emhoff)Yes (Melania Trump)Yes (Karen Pence)Multiple sources: Trump and Pence (both of whom spoke) were the incumbent first and second ladies 2024Yes (Doug Emhoff)No (Gwen Walz)No (Melania Trump)Yes (Usha Vance)Multiple sources: Emhoff (who spoke) was also the incumbent second gentleman
Analysis of modern speeches
Purpose Speeches by spouses have typically served to illustrate a softer side of the nominee, with the spouses often sharing humanizing personal anecdotes. In 2012, historian Catherine Allgor opined,
George W. Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer noted to NPR in 2016 that most speeches by the spouses of presidential nominees follow the same formula of trying to paint a flattering portrait of the candidate as an individual beyond their public work,
The spouse's sharing of anecdotes from their unique perspective on the nominee may also play a role in strengthening public perception of the positive leadership attributes the candidate is touted as holding.
Historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony observed of speeches by the spouses of presidential nominees,
In 2012, Allgor and Anthony each opined that the speeches are perhaps an outgrowth of Americans' and their media's long-standing fascination with the spouses of presidents. To this, Allgor wrote,
Topics and style In 2014, Tammy R. Vigil published a scholarly analysis of ten speeches delivered by presidential nominee's spouses to conventions between the years 1992 and 2012. She observed,
Melania Trump's speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention came under scrutiny when strong similarities were noticed between a section of her remarks and a section of and Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.Maggie Haberman, Alan Rappeport & Patrick Healy, Melania Trump's Speech Bears Striking Similarities to Michelle Obama's in 2008, The New York Times (July 19, 2016). The Trump campaign at first denied allegations of plagiarism.Julian Routh, Paul Manafort Blames Hillary Clinton for Melania Trump Speech Plagiarism Allegation, The Wall Street Journal (July 19, 2016). Campaign manager Paul Manafort argued that the speech contained "not that many similarities" and the words used are not unique words "that belong to the Obamas." Chris Harrick, Vice President of Marketing at the plagiarism prevention service Turnitin, later reported that Trump used about 6% of Michelle Obama's words and found two types of plagiarism, "clone" and "find and replace".
Grade-level analysis of speeches by spouses of presidential nominees Smart Politics (a project of University of Minnesota) conducted Flesch-Kincaid grade level analysis of speeches by the spouses of presidential nominees between 1992 and 2012. In 2016, The Boston Globe conducted similar analysis of the speeches of key speakers at both conventions, including the speeches by presidential nominee spouses.
Speaker Convention Reading ease Words per sentence Grade level Cite 2012 DNC 57.60 30.66 12.84 2008 DNC 69.08 22.75 9.28 2004 DNC 61.99 18.46 9.20 1996 RNC 61.79 15.56 8.51 2008 RNC 66.19 17.54 8.38 1996 DNC 68.25 18.32 8.29 1992 RNC 70.75 18.51 7.99 2004 RNC 67.44 15.77 7.77 2016 DNC 16.5 7.3 2016 RNC 15 6.9 2000 DNC 74.76 15.28 6.63 2000 RNC 71.74 12.92 6.46 2012 RNC 80.33 15.12 5.80
Notes
See also List of keynote speakers at United States presidential nominating conventions
References