PoliticsRepublican National Convention Starts TodayGen. Wood, Sen. Johnson Among Front-runners for Nomination
Republican delegates from all over the country have flocked to Chicago to pick their next presidential hopeful. These men will fill the Coliseum starting this morning, sweltering in the hot Illinois summer as they decide the fate of this nation. Among those believed to be the odds on favorite to capture the nomination are Major General Leonard Wood of New Hampshire, California Senator Hiram Johnson, and Illinois' own governor Frank Orren Lowden. Also among the decision made will be the parties' platform in the general election. The platform topics are speculated to include a more hands-off approach to industry, a restricted role in global foreign affairs, and a heavy tariff on foreign imports to encourage the domestic economy.
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Chicago Tribune Article
June 8th, 1920
Senator,
I know that your ambitions include nothing short of the White House, but we must tread carefully going into the convention. You are among the longest of long shots on the ballot. I believe nobody feels strongly about any of the front-runners to seriously commit to them, which is why we must court the head of the state delegations beforehand, let them know that you are interested but only as a compromise candidate to be used if no clear winner emerges. There is no way possible General Wood or Senator Johnson can win on the first or second ballot. If we sow those seeds with the party bosses, the voting will eventually be thrown into the backrooms where they rule. I don't expect you to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can afford to take chances that about eleven minutes after two, Friday morning of the convention, when a dozen weary men are sitting around a table, someone will say: 'Who will we nominate?' At that decisive time, the friends of Harding will suggest him and we can well afford to abide by the result. From there you can come out of those smoke-filled room as the next President of the United States.
--Harry M. Daugherty
Confidential telegram to Senator Warren G. Harding
June 1st, 1920
Harding Named Republican NomineeOhio Senator Bests Wood & Lowden After Tenth Ballot
Chicago Tribune Headline
June 8th, 1920
"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality."
-- Excerpt From Senator Warren G. Harding's Acceptance Speech
June 9th, 1920
No Clear Leader in Democratic PackSenators and Governors Among Those Heading into San Francisco
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New York Times Headline
June 26th 1920
It is President Wilson's hope to force a deadlock on the convention floor. Even though he has already served eight years and is in poor health, he desperately craves a third term as President. I fear that the hard fight over the League of Nations has broke something in President Wilson's mind, he is often erratic, stays in hiding, and refuses to listen to reason. Some would say he was not fit to stay in office after his bout of sickness, much less another four years. Regardless, those are his wishes and I pass them along.
-- Sen. Carter Glass
Confidential Letter to Democratic Party Boss
June 24th, 1920
Democratic Nomination Deadlocked Through Thirty BallotsTreasury Sec. McAdoo, Ohio Governor Cox Tied
San Francisco Chronicle Headline
July 4th, 1920
"But how are we to make the change? Which way shall we go? We stand at the forks of the road and must choose which way to follow. One leads to a higher citizenship, a freer expression of the individual and a fuller life for all. The other leads to reaction, the rule of the few over the many, and the restriction of the average man's chances to grow upward. Cunning devices, backed by unlimited prodigal expenditures, will be used to confuse and to lure. But I have an abiding faith that the pitfalls will be avoided and the right road chosen."
-- Excerpt from Governor James M. Cox's Acceptance Speech
July 5th, 1920
Franklin Roosevelt Picked as Cox Running MateUndersecretary of the Navy Joins ticket, Cox/Roosevelt Set to Square off with Harding/Coolidge In Nov.
Washington Post Headline
July 6th, 1920