1924 Republican National Convention


The 1924 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Public Auditorium from June 10 to 12.
President Calvin Coolidge was nominated for a full term and went on to win the general election. The convention nominated Illinois Governor Frank Lowden for vice president on the second ballot, but he declined the nomination. The convention then selected Charles G. Dawes. Also considered for the nomination was Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas, a future vice president.

Delegates

For this convention the method of allocating delegates changed in order to reduce the overrepresentation of the South. This effort proved only partly successful as Southern delegates proved to be more overrepresented than they had been in 1916 or 1920, though they were not as overrepresented as they had been in 1912 and earlier.
There were 120 women delegates, 11% of the total. The Republican National Committee approved a rule providing for a national committeeman and a national committeewoman from each state.

Ku Klux Klan presence

Time featured the imperial wizard in a cover photograph in conjunction with an article about the organization's role in the Republican convention dubbing it "the Kleveland Konvention." Some delegates supported adding a condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan by name into the party platform, but they lacked enough support to bring their proposed language to a vote. The head of the KKK, Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans, was in the city for the convention but maintained a low public profile.

Republican candidates

Coolidge faced a challenge from California Senator Hiram Johnson and Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette in the 1924 Republican primaries. Coolidge fended off his progressive challengers with convincing wins in the Republican primaries, and was assured of the 1924 presidential nomination by the time the convention began. After his defeat in the primaries, La Follette ran a third party candidacy that attracted significant support.

Declined to run

Calvin Coolidge1065All other states
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.3424 from Wisconsin, 10 from North Dakota
Hiram Johnson1010 from South Dakota

Vice Presidential nomination

Calvin Coolidge had ascended to the presidency after the death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. As the 25th Amendment had not yet been passed, Coolidge served the remainder of Harding's term without a vice president. The 1924 Republican Convention was thus tasked with picking a running mate for Coolidge.
With Coolidge having locked up the presidential nomination, most attention was focused on the vice presidential nomination. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover of California and appellate judge William Kenyon of Iowa were seen as the front-runners for the nomination, as both were popular Western progressives who could provide balance to a ticket led by a conservative from Massachusetts. Coolidge's first choice was reported to be Idaho Senator William E. Borah, also a progressive Westerner, but Borah declined to be considered. Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden, University of Michigan president Marion Leroy Burton, Ambassador Charles B. Warren of Michigan, Washington Senator Wesley Livsey Jones, college president John Lee Coulter of North Dakota, General James Harbord, and General Charles Dawes also had support as potential running mates. Despite saying that he would not accept the nomination, Lowden was nominated for Vice President on the second ballot over Dawes, Kenyon, and Ohio Representative Theodore E. Burton. However, Lowden declined the nomination, an action, that as of 2020, has never been repeated, and is now considered unthinkable. The Republicans then held a new vice presidential ballot, with Coolidge favoring Hoover. However, the Republicans picked Dawes, partly as a reaction to the perceived dominance of Coolidge in running the convention.
Vice-presidential ballot12
Before shifts		2
After shifts		3
Former Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden2224137660
White House Budget Director Charles Dawes of Illinois14911149682.5
Ohio Congressman Theodore E. Burton139288940
Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover of California000234.5
Iowa Senator William S. Kenyon172956875
Pennsylvania Congressman George S. Graham81000
Indiana Senator James E. Watson7955745
Kansas Senator Charles Curtis5631240
Missouri Governor Arthur M. Hyde5536360
Nebraska Senator George W. Norris35000
Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart03100
Utah delegate Frank T. Hines28100
Convention delegate Charles H. March of Minnesota28000
Tennessee Congressman James W. Taylor21202727
Former Maryland Senator William P. Jackson230010
Ambassador to Japan Charles B. Warren of New York1012314
Former Delaware Senator Thomas C. DuPont00311
Montana Governor Joseph M. Dixon6002
Indiana Congressman Everett Sanders0004
Former U.S. Army Major General James G. Harbord of New York1003
Former Indiana Senator Albert J. Beveridge0002
College president John Lee Coulter of North Dakota1001
California businessman William Wrigley Jr.1001

Prayers

Each of the three days of the convention opened with a lengthy invocation by a different clergymen—one Methodist, one Jewish, one Catholic. Each was listed among the convention officers as an official chaplain.
On June 10, the opening prayer was given by William F. Anderson, Methodist Episcopal bishop of Boston. Among other things, he called for "stricter observance of the law and the preservation of the Constitution of the United States", in other words, for more zealous enforcement of Prohibition.
The next day's session was opened by Rev. Dr. Samuel Schulman, rabbi of Temple Beth-El in New York. Schulman spoke with appreciation for "the Republican Party's precious heritage of the championship of human rights"; he called for "every form of prejudice and misunderstanding" to be "driven forever out of our land". Speaking of Calvin Coolidge, he praised "the integrity, the wisdom, the fearlessness of our beloved President".
On June 12, the final day's invocation was given by Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland. Schrembs characterized President Calvin Coolidge as "a chieftain whose record of faithful public service, and whose personality, untarnished and untainted by the pollution of political corruption, will fill the heart of America with the new hope of a second spring".