Democratic Convention Highlights
New York, 1924 -- John W. Davis is nominated, but it requires a record 103 ballots!Chicago, 1932 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt flew to Chicago, becoming the first candidate to accept the Democratic nomination in person and the first to fly.
Philadelphia, 1948 - President Harry Truman is nominated for the Democrats; Strom Thurmond becomes the Dixiecrat nominee after a Democratic delegate push for civil rights for American blacks.
Los Angeles, 1960 - Sen. John Kennedy defeated Sen. Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination. Johnson became the vice presidential nominee and the eventual president after Kennedy's assassination.
Chicago, 1968 - Sen. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were both assassinated that year. President Johnson chose not to run for re-election. The Democratic convention was marked by demonstrations against the Vietnam war and against Hubert Humphrey. Television beamed images of the conflict to American living rooms; police responded in a manner later called a "police riot."
San Francisco, 1984 -- Democrat Walter Mondale picks Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his vice presidential running mate; Ferraro is the first woman placed on the presidential ticket by a major party.
Boston, 2004 - A relatively unknown Illinios state Senator, Barack Obama, wowed Democratic convention delegates and set the stage for his 2008 presidential candidacy.
Denver, 2008 - Democrats nominate Barack Obama as their candidate, making him the first African-American on a major party presidential ticket.
Republican Convention Highlights
Chicago, 1868 - Ulysses S. Grant clinches the Republican presidential nomiation with 100 percent of the vote on the first ballot.Chicago, 1880 - James A. Garfield takes the Republican nomination ... after a record 36 ballots!
Chicao, 1912 - William H. Taft wins the Republican nomination after a "contentious" battle with former President Teddy Roosevelt.
Cleveland, 1924 - The Republicans nominate Calvin Coolidge, and, for the first time, a political convention is broadcast over the radio.
Philadelphia, 1940 - Wendell L. Wilkie is the Republican nominee; this is the first convention to be televised.
Chicago, 1944 - Like FDR before him (1932), nominee Thomas E. Dewey becomes the first Republican to accept the nomination in person.
San Francisco, 1964 - Although the Republican nominee is Barry Goldwater, this convention marks the first time a major party considers a woman candidate, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.
New Orleans, 1988 - Republicans nominate Vice President George H.W. Bush to be their presidential candidate. Libertarians nominate Ron Paul.
Sources:
Times of London and New York Times