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Through the Parties A History of the United States As Seen Through Political Conventions
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Chapter One: The Republicans, 1980
In 1980, the Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan for President of the United States but it was at this convention where history was forever altered. Most historians agree that then-Governor Reagan was heavily considering choosing George Bush, his former rival from the primaries, to be his number two on the Republican Convention but Reagan has reservations despite persistent advice from his staff. His thoughts kept turning back to 1976, only four year earlier, when he was "robbed" of the Republican Nomination for President by a man named Gerald Ford.
For weeks Reagan had been talking with Ford and discussing the possibility of a joint-presidency, behind the backs of most campaign insiders and on this particular night a deal was reached and a co-presidency was born. It was a dangerous precedent that Reagan would embark on but ultimately it was the only one that Reagan felt could guarantee him the election. In his hotel room the staff was engaged in a heated discussion over who Reagan should pick with names like Donald Rumsfeld being floated around but Reagan calmly walked to his hotel bathroom, washed his face, and looked in the mirror. He knew that Ford was the key to victory and so Reagan left the bathroom and made an announcement. "I've called Gerry Ford and he's agreed to be my running mate."
Reagan's decision was moderately surprising. Early on Ford had been heavily considered but most had thought the deal fell through, now they were faced with an impossible decision: should they dare talk the former Governor out of his decision. Alas, the answer would be no and history knows the rest: Gerald Ford was appointed as the running mate to Ronald Reagan and he accepted the nomination for Vice President of the United States at the Republican National Convention.
Ford's speech was well-written and well-delivered. It outlined his differences with Reagan but promised that at the end of the day they were united for change from the Carter-era ways. In the years since Ford's speech was heralded as a model of excellence with the perfect blend of policy and persuasion with a rhetoric few could master. The speechwriters behind the address were never revealed with no one taking credit and most saying Ford had an immense say in how the speech was worded.
On Election Night 1980 the Reagan/Ford ticket swept all but 3 states (Georgia, West Virginia, and Rhode Island) as well as the District of Columbia. They achieved nearly 52% of the popular vote with three candidates garnering a respectable percentage of votes.
Chapter Two: The Democrats, 1988
He was a young, charismatic figure in the Democratic Party and his defeat of Michael Dukakis in the primary battle prior to the convention was improbable. Governor Bill Clinton had all eyes on him at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 and he blew it, in front of a national audience, cementing 12 years of Republican rule in the White House. It was a humiliating moment for the Governor, but the failure began before the convention - at a meeting in New York.
Governor Bill Clinton met with Governor Mario Cuomo of New York who was largely seen as a front runner for the Vice Presidential nomination. Cuomo had delivered the Keynote Speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention (which nominated the ticket of Gary Hart and Lloyd Bentsen) and it shocked most n the nation when he decided not to run for President in his own right during the 1988 Democratic Primaries. Nonetheless, Clinton had settled on Cuomo as a running mate and after some hesitation Cuomo agreed.
At the Democratic National Convention held in Atlanta Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards delivered a rousing speech to the delegates, attacking the Republican nominee of Gerald Ford for being "yesterday's news" and pointing to Clinton as a source for new life and new ideas. The speech was inspirational in tone and was a roaring success among the delegates, rallying the base and ushering a new kind of optimism for the Democrats in what was predicted to be a moderately close election.
The next night was Mario Cuomo's turn and he blew the crowd away as well. His speech was a hit and all eyes turned to Clinton, who was expected to give his speech the next night. When Bill Clinton arrived at the podium expectations had been set higher than the Empire State Building and the nation watched as Clinton suffered mishap after mishap. The first was when he incorrectly named Bob Dole as the Republican Party's Vice Presidential Candidate, the nominee was Bob's wife, Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Dole. A small gaffe, but an unneeded one with expectations extremely high.
Clinton's speech was long, but the irony was Clinton's prepared remarks were less than 4,000 words. When Clinton got on stage he began rambling and struggled to stick to the script. He would get lost in his words and sometimes he would get so off topic he'd stop, stare at the camera, and pick a random portion of the speech as the teleprompter scrolled to find what the hell he was talking about. Historians would later reflect on the speech as a disaster, but today most argue if expectations hadn't been so high it might have saved some face for Clinton.
Ultimately Clinton and Cuomo lost to the Ford/Dole ticket winning a select few states. The failure of the DLC would haunt the Democrats for years and move their party's platform significantly to the left. Clinton retired after his term as Governor ended and left politics until 1998 when he ran, and won, a seat in the United States Senate launching the most improbable of political comebacks.
Chapter Three: The Democrats, 1992
Massachusetts Senator Edward Moore Kennedy stood before the Democratic Convention and accepted the party's nomination for Vice President and his nomination made the 1992 Democratic Convention one of the most memorable in American History. It was 32 years earlier that the same party nominated Kennedy's brother an it was 12 years earlier that the same party, at a similar convention, denied Kennedy of his party's nomination against Jimmy Carter. The tides had changed and that much was clear.
It's no secret that Kennedy emerged the victor of a brokered convention with Al Gore, Mario Cuomo, and Michael Dukakis having enough support to bring the fight from the primaries to the convention floor. After the first day of the convention the party wasn't impressed by what the candidates had to say and they began to turn to find another candidate. Ann Richards was widely considered and so was Lloyd Bentsen but ultimately it was Kennedy who emerged victorious in a brutal floor fight, one that most said the party wouldn't recover from.
The fact was, with a war raging in the Gulf and the economy slipping the Republicans were vulnerable and the Democrats had a clear shot to take them out of the race, but after a divided convention that seemed improbable and so when Ted Kennedy walked on stage the delegates were nervous and excited, a mix of emotions that few felt they could feel. His Vice Presidential Nominee, New York Senator Shirley Chisholm, had made history and here was Ted Kennedy, the Kennedy's last best chance at winning the White House.
His speech blew the delegates away. Not only did award red meat to the chanting delegates on the floor, it provided solutions to the viewers at home. The Kennedy/Chisholm campaign gained respect and Chisholm would go on to become the first African-American Vice President when the Democrats defeated the Ford/Dole ticket with well-over the necessary 270 electoral votes required. Nearly every swing state broke in Kennedy's favor and it was all because he reassured Americans he was ready to lead at the convention.
Chapter Four: The Republicans, 2000
It had been eight long years for the Republican Party since their loss in 1992. In his time as President Ted Kennedy had passed significant health care reform, providing universal coverage for all Americans. He had reformed Washington by decreasing the involvement of political action committees in the election process as well as ending the war in the Gulf which began under President Ford. Perhaps most importantly unemployment stood at 3.9%, an incredibly low number that most felt would end any chance of Republican success in November. The Democratic Party had nominated Kennedy's Secretary of State, Sam Nunn, as their party's nominee. The Republicans experienced a contested primary between Elizabeth Dole, Colin Powell, and John McCain. Ultimately Powell succeeded.
The polls showed him trailing Nunn 49-47 and Powell's selection of McCain as a running mate was a smart political strategy. Going into the convention Powell would need to gain a bump to revitalize his campaign, which had gone from a 2-point lead to a 2-point deficit. The convention was full of admirable speakers including Ronald Reagan, who was in extraordinary health given his age, Gerald Ford, Elizabeth Dole, Jack Kemp (the party's nominee in 1996), and many other high-profile Republicans. It was a great spectacle but ultimately attention was fixed on Powell.
His speech accented his experience and displayed a mastery of the issues. He was strong and passionate and rallied the base, something most felt he would have a problem with. At the end of the day Powell walked away with a 7-point bounce from the convention while Nunn would only experience a 3-point bounce from his. Powell ran away with the election and ushered in a moderate Administration focused on national security and foreign affairs while domestic affairs were largely ignored.
Chapter Five: The Democrats, 2004
The political comeback of Bill Clinton is often considered the Democratic Version of Richard Nixon. His career was filled with ups-and-downs but in the 2004 Democratic Primaries Clinton prevailed against foreign policy hawk Joe Lieberman, Governor of Connecticut, and the liberal Andrew Cuomo, Senator from New York. The United States was looking for change in 2004 because President Powell had failed to address big issues like education and social security. It was the perfect time for Bill Clinton to reenter the national stage.
When he entered the race Senator Clinton was laughed-off but slowly he gained momentum, winning the Iowa Caucuses in an upset victory. That momentum propelled him to sweep all 50 states in the most bizarre turn of events in modern U.S. political history. The nerves going into the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina were unimaginable. Pollsters and pundits debated if Clinton could succeed after such a disastrous performance in 1988 when he accepted his party's nomination.
His running mate, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, did as expected in his speech and the only one who raised the bar, per se, was Clinton's wife Hillary who delivered a touching address on the first night. At the end of the day the convention was Clinton's for the taking and he took it and ran with it.
His speech began with humor, but soon he turned his disastrous performance in 1988 into a major advantage. "They called that speech the speech that just wouldn't end, and they're right: it didn't end," Clinton proclaimed. He walked the delegates through his life since that speech, highlighting numerous accomplishments as a U.S. Senator and concluding his address by saying, "No speech ever ends, because the work of a public servant never ends!" Somehow Clinton had captured the audience's attention and soon he was leading Powell in the polls, hitting him for a failed education system but Clinton's ticket to the White House really began with the speech he delivered in Charlotte.
Chapter Six: The Republicans, 2008
Since 1992, the Republicans had held the presidency for only four years and they wanted the White House badly and so they turned to reformer Paul Ryan, the Governor of Wisconsin. He had made his state number one in job creation, balanced the budget nearly every year he was Governor, and had led a very proactive agenda. He was the perfect candidate and that was why he did so well in the primaries against John McCain, the former Vice President. Despite being only 38 years old Ryan had achieved remarkable success and had been in public service his whole life.
To join him he chose the seasoned political veteran Mitt Romney who had served 14 years in the U.S. Senate since his election in 1994. Romney was a moderate, supported civil unions, and while being pro-life had held some fairly pro-choice positions in the past. He was a strong and formidable running mate and reassured voters who felt Ryan was just too young to be elected President. Ryan contrasted with Romney to an excellent degree and the Republicans were very confident about their chances in the 2008 election. The polls showed a tight race and every bit of the election mattered and at their convention in Cleveland the Republicans put together a hell of a show-stopper.
The first big speech was the keynote delivered by Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Palin fired up the crowd and put her name in the national spotlight. Her great speech received stellar reviews and put her name on the front page of every paper. Former Vice President John McCain gave a gracious speech on the first night of the convention, applauding Ryan on his success in the primaries. Also present were Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Colin Powell. Though Ford and Reagan did not speak their presence symbolized a lot for the Republicans.
Ryan's speech was excellent. It was not historic in any way, but at the time it was well-received. He succeeded in bridging the gap with young Americans and succeeded in reassuring the American public of his leadership. Ultimately, the Ryan/Romney ticket succeeded in November 2008 with 295 electoral votes compared to Clinton/Kerry's 243 electoral votes. While Ryan's speech isn't often regarded as exemplary by historians, it is noted that his speech served it's purpose: to prove to Americans this guy was a legitimate candidate with excellent qualifications, even if he was young.
For a brief time after Ryan's inauguration there were six former U.S. Presidents alive at one time (Carter, Ford, Reagan, Powell, Kennedy, and Clinton). This was a record, but ended with Ford's death in May 2009. Reagan died on the 1-year anniversary of Ford's death and Kennedy died in December 2010 reducing the number of living former Presidents from six in January 2009 to just three by January 2011.