United States presidential nominating conventions long have traditionally included a keynote speech, typically delivered on the opening day of the convention.
A 2000 report by the Congressional Research Service observed,
List of keynote speakers at party conventions + List of major party keynote speakers Election Democratic Republican Further reading Cite 1884 John R. Lynch (former rep. from Mississippi) 1884 RNC 1896 John W. Daniel(senator from Virginia) Charles W. Fairbanks (party organizer from Indiana) 1896 DNC1896 RNC 1900 Charles S. Thomas(governor of Colorado) Edward O. Wolcott(senator from Colorado) 1900 DNC1900 RNC 1904 John Sharp Williams(House minority leader) Elihu Root(secretary of war) 1904 DNC1904 RNC 1908 Theodore Arlington Bell(rep. from California) Julius C. Burrows(senator from Michigan) 1908 DNC1908 RNC 1912 Alton B. Parker(chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals & 1904 Democratic presidential nominee) Elihu Root(senator from New York; former secretary of war) 1912 DNC1912 RNC 1916 Martin H. Glynn(former governor of New York) Warren G. Harding(senator from Ohio) 1916 DNC1916 RNC 1920 Homer Stille Cummings(chair of the Democratic National Committee & state attorney of Fairfield County, Connecticut) Henry Cabot Lodge(senator from Massachusetts) 1920 DNC1920 RNC 1924 Pat Harrison(senator from Mississippi) Theodore E. Burton(rep. & former senator from Ohio) 1924 DNC1924 RNC 1928 Claude G. Bowers(party stalwart from Indiana) Simeon D. Fess(senator from Ohio) 1928 DNC1928 RNC 1932 Alben W. Barkley(senator from Kentucky) L. J. Dickinson(senator from Iowa) 1932 DNC1932 RNC 1936 Alben W. Barkley(senator from Kentucky)Joseph T. Robinson(senator from Arkansas) Frederick Steiwer(senator from Oregon) 1936 DNC1936 RNC 1940 William B. Bankhead(speaker of the House) Harold Stassen(governor of Minnesota) 1940 DNC1940 RNC 1944 Robert S. Kerr(governor of Oklahoma) Earl Warren(governor of California) 1944 DNC1944 RNC 1948 Alben W. Barkley(senator from Kentucky) Dwight H. Green(governor of Illinois) 1948 DNC1948 RNC 1952 Paul A. Dever(governor of Massachusetts) Douglas MacArthur(former supreme commander for the Allied Powers) 1952 DNC1952 RNC 1956 Frank G. Clement(governor of Tennessee) Arthur B. Langlie(governor of Washington) 1956 DNC1956 RNC 1960 Frank Church(senator from Idaho) Walter Judd(rep. from Minnesota) 1960 DNC1960 RNC 1964 John Pastore(senator from Rhode Island & former governor of Rhode Island) Mark Hatfield(governor of Oregon) 1964 DNC1964 RNC 1968 Daniel Inouye(senator from Hawaii) Daniel J. Evans(governor of Washington) 1968 DNC1968 RNC 1972 Reubin Askew(governor of Florida) Anne L. Armstrong(ambassador to Great Britain)Edward Brooke(senator from Massachusetts)Richard Lugar(mayor of Indianapolis) 1972 DNC1972 RNC 1976 John Glenn(senator from Ohio)Barbara Jordan(rep. from Texas) Howard Baker(senator from Tennessee) 1976 DNC1976 RNC 1980 Mo Udall(rep. from Arizona) Guy Vander Jagt(rep. from Michigan) 1980 DNC1980 RNC 1984 Mario Cuomo(governor of New York) Katherine D. Ortega(treasurer of the United States) 1984 DNC keynote1984 RNC 1988 Ann Richards(Texas state treasurer) Thomas Kean(governor of New Jersey) 1988 DNC1988 RNC 1992 Zell Miller(senator from Georgia)Barbara Jordan(former rep. from Texas)Bill Bradley (senator from New Jersey) Phil Gramm(senator from Texas) 1992 DNC1992 RNC 1996 Evan Bayh(governor of Indiana) Susan Molinari(rep. from New York) 1996 DNC1996 RNC 2000 Harold Ford Jr. (rep. from Tennessee) John McCain (senator from Arizona & unsuccessful candidate for presidential nomination)Colin Powell(former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) 2000 DNC2000 RNC 2004 Barack Obama(Illinois state senator & senate nominee in Illinois) Zell Miller(Democratic Party senator from Georgia) 2004 DNC keynote2004 RNC 2008 Mark Warner(former governor of Virginia & senate nominee in Virginia) Rudy Giuliani (former mayor of New York & unsuccessful candidate for presidential nomination) 2008 DNC2008 RNC 2012 Julian Castro(mayor of San Antonio) Chris Christie(governor of New Jersey) 2012 DNC2012 RNC 2016 Elizabeth Warren(senator from Massachusetts) Joni Ernst(senator from Iowa) 2016 DNC2016 RNC 2020 17 speakers 2020 DNC 2024 Angela Alsobrooks(Prince George's County executive & senate nominee in Maryland) 2024 DNC
Historic firsts At the 1884 Republican National Convention, Lynch was the first African American to deliver a keynote address at a major party convention, and the only person of color to do so until 1968 The 1952 keynotes were the first to be nationally televised live At the 1968 Democratic convention, Inouye was the first person of color to deliver a Democratic Party keynote speech, and the first to deliver one at either major party's convention since 1884 At the 1972 Republican convention, Armstrong was the first woman to deliver a major party's convention keynote At the 1976 Democratic convention, Jordan was the first black person to deliver the Democratic Party keynote address At the 1976 Democratic convention, Jordan was the first woman to deliver the Democratic Party convention keynote speech At the 2000 Democratic convention, Ford was the first black man to deliver the Democratic convention keynote (Barbara Jordan, a black woman, had twice preceded him) At the 2012 Democratic convention, Castro was the first Hispanic person to deliver the Democratic convention keynote At the 2020 Democratic convention, Garcia, Kenyatta, and Park became the first openly LGBTQ speakers to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention (all three being openly-gay men). Park was also the first Korean-American to deliver a major party keynote address
Examples of keynote speakers at third party conventions Examples of third party convention keynote speakers include:
Progressive Party (1940s/1950s) Charles P. Howard Sr., (an African American editor) at 1948 Progressive National Convention W. E. B. Du Bois (civil rights activist) at 1952 Progressive National Convention
Communist Party Earl Browder (Communist Party USA general secretary) at 1944 Communist National Convention William Z. Foster (Communist Party USA general secretary) at the 1948 Communist National Convention
Populist Party Marion Butler (senator from North Carolina & North Carolina state senator) at the 1892 Populist National Convention and 1896 Populist National Convention
Prohibition Party Clinton N. Howard at the 1912 and 1932 Prohibition National Conventions Aaron S. Watkins (1908 & 1912 vice presidential nominee and 1920 presidential nominee of Prohibition Party) at 1920 Prohibition National Convention D. Leigh Colvin (1920 Vice presidential and 1936 presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party) at the 1936 Prohibition National Convention and 1943 Prohibition National Convention Claude A. Watson (attorney) at 1940 Prohibition National Convention Edward E. Blake (chairman of the national committee of the Prohibition Party) at the 1947 Prohibition National Convention William Langer (Republican Party senator from North Dakota) at the 1955 Prohibition National Convention
Other William Randolph Hearst (newspaper publisher and former rep. from New York) at the 1908 Independence National Convention
Notes
See also Speeches by spouses of nominees at United States presidential nominating conventions
References