The 1936 Democratic National Convention was held in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

from June 23 to 27, 1936. The convention resulted in the nomination of

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 ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

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 ...

John N. Garner John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and lawyer from History of Texas, Texas who ...

for reelection.

Changes to rules

At the 1936 Democratic Convention, the rule requiring candidates for

and

to have a majority of two-thirds of the delegates votes to win nomination, which had existed since 1832, was abolished. Roosevelt had long pushed for the rule's abolition, in part due to past deadlocks: for example, the 1924 convention had required 103 ballots over roughly two weeks to nominate

John W. Davis John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ...

. The conventioneers provided that a simple majority of delegates would be required to win nomination, allowing for candidates to more easily be nominated and thus produce less balloting. In this regard, only one Democratic Convention after 1932 has required multiple ballots (that of 1952, which required three). This also began the decline of the South's clout at Democratic conventions, making it easier for the Democrats to begin adopting

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and other liberal ideas into their platforms, since the two-thirds rule had long given the South a ''de facto'' veto power on presidential nominees. With the rule's abolition, Missouri Senator

Bennett Champ Clark Joel Bennett Clark (January 8, 1890 – July 13, 1954), better known as Bennett Champ Clark, was a Democratic United States senator from Missouri from 1933 until 1945, and was later a circuit judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. He was ...

noted that "the Democratic Party is no longer a sectional party, it has become a great national party." Southern Democrats would continue to decline in power, ultimately leading to the Dixiecrat movement and Nixon's 1968

Southern strategy In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of ...

. South Carolina Senator Ellison D. Smith walked out of the convention once he saw that a black minister,

Marshall L. Shepard Marshall Lorenzo Shepard, Sr. (July 10, 1899 – February 21, 1967) was an American Christian clergyman and politician. Affiliated with the Democratic Party, his political career was focused in the city of Philadelphia. Born to an African Ameri ...

, was going to deliver the invocation.

Results

The Balloting: President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner were renominated by acclamation without need for a roll-call vote. In his acceptance speech on June 27 at the adjacent

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for American football, foo ...

, Roosevelt remarked, "This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."

References

External links

Democratic Party Platform of 1936
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Roosevelt Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC
(transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project'' * {{Authority control 1936 conferences 1936 United States presidential election 1936 in Pennsylvania 1930s in Philadelphia Political conventions in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Democratic Party Political events in Pennsylvania Democratic National Conventions June 1936 events

Changes to rules

Results

See also

References

External links