5 Most Historic Moments From DNC Conventions

A banner on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 18, 2020. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

After moving to a virtual event in 2020 to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is set to host its first in-person nominating convention in eight years.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are set to be coronated at the 2024 DNC convention in Chicago from Aug. 19–22. Harris, if elected, would be the first woman president in U.S. history.

These are five of the most historic moments from past DNC conventions in chronological order.

1. 1860: Party Nominates Two Candidates

The Democratic Party first chose Charleston, South Carolina, as the site for its 1860 convention, convening on April 23.

The party nominated six men as candidates at the Charleston convention: Stephen A. Douglas, James Guthrie, Robert M. T. Hunter, Joseph Lane, Daniel S. Dickinson, and Andrew Johnson. Delegates battled over the topic of slavery and failed to reach the two-thirds vote necessary at the time to nominate a candidate.

Douglas, the original frontrunner, was considered a moderate on slavery for promoting “popular sovereignty,” the idea of allowing new states to vote on approving the practice.

While supported by some southern Democrats, others opposed him for his view that states could decide to accept or reject slavery with legislation. In total, 51 southern delegates walked out in protest.

Douglas achieved a 57.5 percent majority after 57 ballots, but fell short of the two-thirds needed for nomination. The party adjourned and decided to reconvene on June 18 in Baltimore.

Some of the walk-outs in Charleston were reseated with pro-Douglas replacements in Baltimore, with those left hosting a separate convention in the city to nominate John C. Breckinridge.

The party now had two presidential nominees for the 1860 election, splitting the vote and assuring Republican Abraham Lincoln’s victory. After seceding from the Union, the southern states created the Confederacy and bombarded Fort Sumter the following April, sparking the flames of the American Civil War.

2. 1928: Convention Returns to South

The Democratic Party headed to Houston, Texas, in 1928, hosting its first convention in the South since the Civil War.

Local businessman Jesse H. Jones, who was also the DNC’s director of finance, lobbied to bring the convention to his hometown, despite the summer heat. Jones pushed to construct the 20,000-seat Sam Houston Hall for $200,000, as no other facility was large enough for the event.

Democrats focused on the enforcement of Prohibition and the plight of America’s farmers. New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith, an anti-Prohibitionist, was the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for the U.S. presidency by a major political party. He chose Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson (D-Ark.), a supporter of Prohibition, as his running mate.

Future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered the speech nominating Smith. He capped his remarks with this statement: “We offer one who has the will to win, who not only deserves success but commands it. Victory is his habit—the Happy Warrior, Alfred E. Smith.”

Despite the location of the 1928 convention, Smith lost Texas in the general election, winning only Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and South Carolina, as Herbert Hoover won by a landslide. Hoover won 58.2 percent of the popular vote and 444 electoral college votes.

Roosevelt went on to beat Hoover in 1932 and became the first and last president to be elected to four terms in the White House. Congress ratified the 22nd Amendment in 1951 to officially limit U.S. presidents to two terms.

Houston is not host to another political convention until Republicans nominated incumbent President George H.W. Bush at the Astrodome in 1992.

3. 1968: Streets in Chaos

Democrats hold their last open convention in 1968 after President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in March that he would “not seek” nor “accept” the party nomination for a second term.

Tensions continued after Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), who scored primary wins in states such as Indiana and California, was assassinated in June. Martin Luther King Jr. had been fatally shot in April, further adding to the ramp-up in violence that besieged the 1968 convention in Chicago months later.

The year was a flash point for civil rights movements and anti-Vietnam War protests, which engulfed the streets of Chicago by late spring of that year. Mayor Richard J. Daley directed officers to “shoot to kill” arsonists and to “shoot to maim” potential looters in Chicago.

Delegates convened August 26–29, facing bullying and verbal fights on the convention floor as antiwar activists soon lost hope of achieving a foreign peace plan. Protesters demonstrating in Lincoln Park and Grant Park endured police beatings and intimidation, as the media observed.

By the end of the proceedings, one civilian was killed, while hundreds of protesters, civilians, and police officers were injured.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.) were the frontrunners, but clashed on war policy. McCarthy was the favorite among the antiwar flank of the party, who associated Humphrey with his boss, Johnson, after the vice president defended the administration’s “basically sound” war policies.

Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.), who became the Democratic Party’s nominee in 1972, was also floated as a candidate. Humphrey prevailed at the convention and chose Sen. Edmund Muskie (D-Maine) as his running mate.

American Independent candidate George C. Wallace, four-term governor of Alabama, entered the race and won five southern states. Republican Richard Nixon prevailed with 301 electoral votes.

4. 1984: First Woman

Held at Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Democratic Party’s 1984 convention was historic for nominating the first woman, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (D-N.Y.), for vice president from a major U.S. political party. The next was Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008.

Ferraro joined the campaign of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who faced a tough primary against Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.). Mondale had reached the threshold of support to clinch the nomination prior to the convention, but only after factoring in superdelegates. Hart had won more caucuses and state primaries, but fell behind his opponent in the popular vote.

Civil rights leader and minister Jesse Jackson had secured 358 delegates and 18 percent of the popular vote, coming in third place. During the first day, Hart gave a speech promoting his nomination and pushed for Ferraro as a running mate, calling her a “consensus candidate of this convention.”

Mondale prevailed on the first ballot, with the New Jersey delegates pushing him over the finish line. The former vice president chose Ferraro, and in her acceptance speech, she touched on the historic episode.

“The promise of our country is that the rules are fair. If you work hard and play by the rules, you can earn your share of America’s blessings.”

The election was an overwhelming landslide for Republican President Ronald Reagan. Mondale carried only his home state of Minnesota and Washington, D.C., earning 13 electoral votes to Reagan’s 525.

5. 2020: Convention Goes Virtual

In the midst of the pandemic, the Democratic Party opted to host its 2020 convention across four stages in New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Wilmington from Aug. 17–20.

Most of the events took place virtually and were live-streamed across the country after party leaders opted to postpone the originally slated convention in Milwaukee on July 13–16, 2020.

During roll call, former Vice President Joe Biden received 3,558 delegate votes while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) garnered 1,151.

Biden was formally nominated on Aug. 18 after choosing Kamala Harris as his running mate on Aug. 11.