The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a
presidential nominating convention
A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purp ...
held at
Ford's Grand Opera House
Ford's Grand Opera House was a major music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, located on West Fayette Street between North Howard and Eutaw Streets. It was founded by theatre manager John T. Ford (also the owner of infamous Ford's Theatre in Washingto ...
on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in the nomination of newspaper publisher
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Benjamin Gratz Brown
Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826December 13, 1885) was an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator, the 20th Governor of Missouri, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of ...
of
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
, a ticket previously nominated by the rump
Liberal Republican faction
convention meeting, also held in Baltimore's newly built premier
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
of nationally well-known theatre owner/operator
John T. Ford
John Thompson Ford (April 16, 1829 – March 14, 1894) was an American Theatre director, theater manager and politician during the nineteenth century. He is most notable for operating Ford's Theatre at the time of the Abraham Lincoln assassinatio ...
(infamous as the owner of the
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
where 16th President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
was assassinated in April 1865) of the major
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
, which had already re-nominated incumbent President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
of the regular
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
for another term.
The convention was called to order by
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
chairman
August Belmont
August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was ...
.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson Randolph (September 12, 1792 – October 7, 1875) of Albemarle County was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, an ...
served as the convention's temporary chairman and
James R. Doolittle
James Rood Doolittle (January 3, 1815July 27, 1897) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. He was a strong supporter of President
President most commonly refers to:
*Pres ...
served as permanent president. At six hours in length, stretched over two days, the convention was the shortest meeting of a major political party convention in history.
The convention
Accepting the "
Liberal Republican" platform meant the
Democrats had accepted the "New Departure", rejecting the anti-
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
platform of 1868: they realized that in order to win, they had to look forward and not try to refight the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
[Dunning 198]
While Greeley's long reputation in the years before as the most aggressive attacker of the earlier Democratic Party, its principles, its leadership, and its activists cooled enthusiasm among many of the delegates for the potential nominee, it was accepted that the Democrats would only split the anti-Grant vote and all but assure Grant of re-election if they nominated any other candidate.
Presidential nomination
Presidential candidates
Image:Horace Greeley restored (cropped).jpg,
Image:JeremiahSBlack.png,
Image:JamesABayardJr.png,
Image:Hon. William S. Grossbeck, Ohio - NARA - 526638 (a).jpg,
Declined
Image:William B. Franklin enh.jpg, Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
William B. Franklin
of Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
Major General William B. Franklin was approached by a group of Democrats from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who urged him to run against
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
for the party's presidential nomination. Citing a need for party unity, Franklin declined their suggestion. On the first ballot, Pennsylvania and New Jersey would cast the majority of votes against Greeley.
Horace Greeley received 686 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot. The motion to have Greeley's nomination be declared unanimous was carried.
Source:
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872'. (September 3, 2012).
File:1872DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png,
Vice Presidential nomination
Vice Presidential candidates
Image:BGratzBrown.png,
Image:John Stevenson.jpg,
Benjamin G. Brown received 713 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot.
Source:
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872'. (September 3, 2012).
File:1872DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png,
Straight-Out Democrats Convention
A splinter, conservative group of Democrats broke off due to their dissatisfaction with the nomination of Greeley.
Calling themselves the
Straight-Out Democrats, they held a Straight-Out Democratic National Convention in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. They nominated for President
Charles O'Conor Charles O'Conor may refer to:
* Charles O'Conor (historian) (1710–1791), Irish writer, historian, and antiquarian
* Charles O'Conor (priest) (1764–1828), Irish priest and historian, grandson of the above
* Charles O'Conor (American politician) ( ...
, who told them by telegram that he would not accept their nomination, and
John Quincy Adams II
John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894) was an American politician who represented Quincy in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867, 1868 to 1869, 1871 to 1872, and from 1874 to 1875.
Adams served as ...
for vice president. The candidates received 23,054 votes (0.35%) in the election, and no
Electoral College electors.
See also
*
History of the United States Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties of the United States political system and the oldest existing political party in that country founded in the 1830s and 1840s.
It is also the oldest voter-based political party in t ...
*
History of Baltimore
This article describes the history of the Baltimore and its surrounding area in central Maryland since the establishment of settlements by European colonists in 1661.
Native American settlement
The Baltimore area had been inhabited by Native ...
*
U.S. presidential nomination convention
A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpo ...
*
1872 United States presidential election
The 1872 United States presidential election was the 22nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1872. Despite a split in the Republican Party, incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democratic-endorsed Liberal ...
*
List of Democratic National Conventions
This is a list of Democratic National Conventions. These conventions are the presidential nominating conventions of the Democratic Party of the United States.
List of Democratic National Conventions
* Conventions whose nominees won the subseq ...
*
1872 Liberal Republican convention
An influential group of dissident Republicans split from the party to form the Liberal Republican Party in 1870. At the party's only national convention, held in Cincinnati in 1872, ''New York Tribune'' editor Horace Greeley was nominated for Pres ...
*
1872 Republican National Convention
The 1872 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5–6, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant was unanimously nominated for reelection by the convention's 752 delegates. Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson replaced s ...
*
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
References
Primary sources
* Chester, Edward W ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977) pp 90–9
online
External links
*
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872'
Democratic Party Platform of 1872at ''The American Presidency Project''
{{Authority control
Democratic National Conventions
19th century in Baltimore
1872 United States presidential election
Political conventions in Baltimore
1872 in Maryland
Maryland Democratic Party
Political events in Maryland
1872 conferences
July 1872 events