1888 Republican National Convention

File:1888republicanconvticket.jpg (which housed the Auditorium Theatre, the main venue of the convention)]]

File:Auditoriumexteriorleslie1888.jpg

File:Auditoriuminteriorleslie1888.jpg

File:Floor plan of Auditorium Theatre as set-up for 1888 RNC.jpg

The convention was held in Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. Since the construction on the theater had not been completed in time for the convention, a tent canvas was utilized as a temporary roof during the convention.{{cite web |last1=Brewer |first1=Carole Kuhrt |title=Auditorium Theatre Chicago: 25 Things You Should Know About "The Eighth Wonder of the World" |url=https://www.chicagonow.com/show-me-chicago/2014/05/auditorium-theatre-chicago-25-things-you-should-know-about-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world/ |website=Chicago Now |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140530011146/https://www.chicagonow.com/show-me-chicago/2014/05/auditorium-theatre-chicago-25-things-you-should-know-about-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world|archive-date=May 30, 2014 |access-date=19 July 2022 |date=May 27, 2014}} Controversy was generated, with labor movement supporters taking issue with the non trade union labor utilized in the construction of the Auditorium Building (which the theater is a component of).{{cite web |title=A PARTY BOYCOTT FEARED.; THE AUDITORIUM AND THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/04/23/archives/a-party-boycott-feared-the-auditorium-and-the-republican-convention.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=19 July 2022 |date=23 April 1888}}

File:The lives of Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton (1888) (14780070521) (cropped).jpg

File:Illustration of the 1888 Republican National Convention in session.png

Issues addressed in the convention included support for protective tariffs, repeal of taxes on tobacco, support for the use of gold and silver as currency and support for pensions for veterans. The party also expressed its opposition to polygamy.[https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/republican_conventions.pdf Official Proceedings of the Republican National Convention Held at Chicago, June 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 25, 1888] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829062710/http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/republican_conventions.pdf |date=2008-08-29 }}

File:Illustration of Ohio delegation headquarters during 1888 RNC.jpg delegation's convention headquarters featuring Murat Halstead, Benjamin Butterworth, William McKinley, Joseph B. Foraker, and Frederick Douglass]]

File:Leonard Swett delivering nominating speech for Walter Q. Gresham at 1888 RNC.jpg delivering a nominating speech for Gresham]]

File:Illustration of the Gresham headquarters during 1888 RNC.jpg

Image:BHarrison.jpg|Former U.S. Senator
Benjamin Harrison
of Indiana

Image:JohnSherman.png|U.S. Senator
John Sherman
of Ohio

Image:Russell Alexander Alger by by The Detroit Publishing Co..jpg| Former Governor
Russell A. Alger
of Michigan

Image:Walter Q. Gresham - Brady-Handy.jpg| Former Secretary of the Treasury
Walter Q. Gresham
of Indiana

Image:William Boyd Allison.jpg|U.S. Senator
William B. Allison
of Iowa
(Withdrew after 7th Ballot)

Image:YoungerDepew.jpg|NYC RR President
Chauncey Depew
of New York
(Withdrew after 3rd Ballot)

Image:Jeremiah McLain Rusk - Brady-Handy.jpg|Governor
Jeremiah M. Rusk
of Wisconsin
(Withdrew after 3rd Ballot)

Image:Edwin H. Fitler (Philadelphia Mayor).jpg|Mayor
Edwin Henry Fitler
of Pennsylvania
(Withdrew after 1st Ballot)

File:Joseph Roswell Hawley - Brady-Handy.jpg|Senator
Joseph R. Hawley
from Connecticut
(Withdrew after 1st Ballot)

File:JamesGBlaine.png|Former Secretary of State
James G. Blaine
of Maine
(Declined to Contest)
(Recommended Harrison)

File:John James Ingalls - Brady-Handy.jpg|U.S. Senator
John J. Ingalls
of Kansas

File:William Walter Phelps - Brady-Handy.jpg|Representative
William Walter Phelps
of New Jersey

File:Mckin.jpg|Representative
William McKinley
of Ohio
(Endorsed John Sherman)

File:Frederick Douglass (circa 1879).jpg|Suffragist
Frederick Douglass
of Washington, D.C.

The early favorite for the nomination was James G. Blaine.{{cite book |last=Girard |first=Jolyon P. |date=2019 |title=Presidents and Presidencies in American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00qyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA700 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=700–701 |isbn=978-1-4408-6591-6}} After he disclaimed interest, several candidates vied for the prize, with the frontrunners being Russell A. Alger, Walter Q. Gresham, Chauncey Depew, and John Sherman. After several ballots, none of the leading candidates was able to obtain a majority. Benjamin Harrison, who had served in the U.S. Senate from 1881 to 1887, but had lost reelection after the Democrats gained control of the Indiana legislature, was a dark horse candidate.{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections |title=Benjamin Harrison: Campaigns and Elections |last=Spetter |first=Allan B. |date=2019 |website=U.S. Presidents |publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia |location=Charlottesville, VA |access-date=June 9, 2020}} Republicans were dispirited after losing the presidency in 1884 and were attracted to Harrison because of the speech announcing his presidential candidacy, in which he described himself as a "living and rejuvenated Republican." Harrison won the nomination on the eighth ballot and "Rejuvenated Republicanism" became the party's campaign slogan.

Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 22, 1888)

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|1st Presidential Ballot

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png|2nd Presidential Ballot

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png|3rd Presidential Ballot

Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (June 23, 1888)

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination4thBallot.png|4th Presidential Ballot

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination5thBallot.png|5th Presidential Ballot

Presidential Balloting / 6th Day of Convention (June 25, 1888)

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination6thBallot.png|6th Presidential Ballot

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination7thBallot.png|7th Presidential Ballot

File:1888RepublicanPresidentialNomination8thBallot.png|8th Presidential Ballot

Image:Levi Morton - Brady-Handy portrait - tight 3x4 crop.jpg|Former Minister
Levi P. Morton
of New York

Image:William Walter Phelps - Brady-Handy.jpg|Representative
William W. Phelps
of New Jersey

Image:William Bradley.jpg|Gubernatorial Candidate
William O. Bradley
of Kentucky

Blaine, who had recommended Harrison for the presidential nomination, suggested former Representative and Minister to Austria-Hungary William Walter Phelps of New Jersey for vice president. Thomas C. Platt, an influential political boss in New York State, supported fellow New Yorker Levi P. Morton, a former Representative and Minister to France. He had been asked in 1880, but declined.{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Levi_Morton.htm |title=Levi Parsons Morton, 22nd Vice President (1889-1893) |last=Historian of the U.S. Senate |website=Senate.gov |publisher=United States Senate |location=Washington, DC |access-date=June 9, 2020}} This time Morton decided to accept. He was easily elected on the first ballot as Platt's support of Morton helped him defeat Phelps by a margin of five to one.

Vice Presidential Balloting / 6th Day of Convention (June 25, 1888)

File:1888RepublicanVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|1st
Vice Presidential Ballot

File:1888 Republican National Convention in session in the Auditorium Building Chicago Ill (cropped).jpg

Nearly a decade later, Ohio candidate John Sherman accused Michigan candidate millionaire Russell A. Alger of buying the votes of Southern delegates who had already confirmed their vote for Sherman. In Sherman's 1895 two-volume book "Recollections" he asserted, "I believe, and had, as I thought, conclusive proof, that the friends of Gen. Alger substantially purchased the votes of many of the delegates from the Southern States who had been instructed by their conventions to vote for me." Once accused, Alger submitted correspondence to the New York Times, who published one letter from 1888, written after the convention to Alger, where Sherman states, "if you bought some [votes], according to universal usage, surely I don't blame you." Later in the same New York Times article, Alger insisted neither he or friends bought a single vote. The article also quotes another delegate, James Lewis, who claimed that "the colored delegates of the South will unite on a Union soldier in preference" instead of a civilian.Alger Answers Sherman; Denial that Southern Delegates Sold Their Votes. The Senators Charges Refuted In an Autograph Letter He Practically Withdrew His Charge of Unfairness -- Gen. Sherman Not Opposed to the Purchase of Votes.[https://www.nytimes.com/1895/11/22/archives/alger-answers-sherman-denial-that-southern-delegates-sold-their.html]

When Sherman introduced his antitrust legislation two years later, his main example of unlawful combination drew from a Michigan Supreme Court case involving Diamond Match Company and Alger's participation as president and stock holder.[https://www.nytimes.com/1890/03/25/archives/sherman-to-alger.html Sherman to Alger.]

• History of the United States Republican Party
• List of Republican National Conventions
• United States presidential nominating convention
• 1888 United States presidential election
• 1888 Democratic National Convention

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29627 Republican Party platform of 1888] at The American Presidency Project
• [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=76068 Harrison acceptance letter] at The American Presidency Project
• [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.REPUBLICAN1888 Guide to the Republican National Convention Collection 1884-1888] at the [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/ University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center]

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