The 1956 Republican National Convention was held by the Republican Party of the

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at the

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, from August 20 to August 23, 1956. U.S. Senator William F. Knowland was temporary chairman and former speaker of the House

Joseph W. Martin Jr. Joseph William Martin Jr. (November 3, 1884 – March 6, 1968) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 44th speaker of the United Sta ...

served as permanent chairman. It renominated President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and Vice President Richard M. Nixon as the party's candidates for the 1956 presidential election. On August 23, 1956, singer

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

spoke at the Republican Convention. The 1956 Republican convention was held after that year's Democratic National Convention. This was unusual, as since

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, in every election but 1888, Democrats had held their convention second. It has become an informal tradition that the party holding the White House (which, accordingly, in 1956 had been the Republican Party) hosts their convention second, but it is unclear when this tradition began (Democrats had held the White House and held their conventions second between

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and 1952, but it is unclear whether they scheduled their conventions second in these years because of their White House incumbency, or whether they scheduled them second because it was traditional that Democratic National Conventions had been held after the Republican National Convention).

The 'Joe Smith incident'

President Eisenhower was unanimously re-nominated by the Republican delegates for President of the United States. Such was expected for Vice President Nixon as well, until one renegade delegate, former Democratic Congressman and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

Terry Carpenter Terry McGovern Carpenter (March 28, 1900 – April 27, 1978) was an American politician.Nebraska Legislature, The Official Site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature: ''Sen. Terry Carpenter'', http://nebraskalegislature.gov/education/carpenter.p ...

, decided to place in nomination for Vice President a man named Joe Smith, from Carpenter's own

Terrytown, Nebraska Terrytown is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,198 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Scottsbluff, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. Terrytown is located on the bank of the North Platte River ...

. When asked who Joe Smith was at the 1956 convention, Carpenter mysteriously replied, "Oh, he is a symbol of an open convention, in that sense of the word." It was eventually revealed that there was no such man, and that his nomination was a protest against the perceived political theater of the closed 1956 Republican National Convention. He ultimately did cast his one dissenting vote for Vice President for Joe Smith.

References

External links

Republican Party platform of 1956
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Universal newsreel footage of the conventionUniversal newsreel footage of the conventionVideo of Nixon nomination acceptance speech for Vice President and Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC from C-SPAN (via YouTube)

Audio of Eisenhower nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
{{Authority control Republican National Conventions 1956 United States presidential election 1956 in California Republican Party (United States) events in California 1956 conferences August 1956 events in the United States

The 'Joe Smith incident'

See also

References

External links