1948 Republican National Convention#Platform
{{Short description|Political convention}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox national political convention
| year = 1948
| party = Republican
| date = June 21–25, 1948
| image = RP1948.png
| image_size = 125
| image2 = RV1948.png
| image_size2 = 125
| caption = Nominees
Dewey and Warren
| venue = Convention Hall
| city = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| presidential_nominee = Thomas E. Dewey
| presidential_nominee_state = New York
| vice_presidential_nominee = Earl Warren
| vice_presidential_nominee_state = California
| previous_year = 1944
| next_year = 1952
}}
The 1948 Republican National Convention was held at the Municipal Auditorium, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 21 to 25, 1948.
New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey had paved the way to win the Republican presidential nomination in the primary elections, where he had beaten former Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassen and World War II General Douglas MacArthur. In Philadelphia he was nominated on the third ballot over opposition from die-hard conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, the future "minister of peace" Stassen, Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenberg, and California Governor Earl Warren. In all Republican conventions since 1948, the nominee has been selected on the first ballot. Warren was nominated for vice president. The Republican ticket of Dewey and Warren went on to lose the general election to the Democratic ticket of Harry S. Truman and Alben W. Barkley. One of the decisive factors in convening both major party conventions in Philadelphia that year was that Philadelphia was hooked up to the coaxial cable, giving the ability for two of the three then-young television networks, NBC and CBS, to telecast for the first time live gavel-to-gavel coverage along the East Coast. Only a few minutes of kinescope film have survived of these historic, live television broadcasts.{{cite web | url=http://www.philasun.com/local/first-televised-democratic-convention-70-years-later-unplanned-delegate-remembers/ | title=The first televised Democratic Convention, 70 years later: An unplanned delegate remembers | publisher=Philadelphia Sun | date=5 August 2016 | access-date=6 August 2016 | author=Simmons, Amy V.}}
Platform
The party platform formally adopted at the convention included the following points:
- Reduction of the public debt
- Reduction of the inheritance tax
- Promotion of small business through reduction of governmental intervention and regulation.
- Labor reform
- Elimination of unnecessary federal bureaus, and duplication of functions of necessary governmental agencies.
- Federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-cost housing
- Extension of Social Security benefits
- A federal anti-lynching law
- Federal civil rights legislation. Texas delegate Orville Bullington led a successful protest demanding southern representation on the platform panel considering the civil rights proposals.
- Abolition of the poll tax
- A crackdown on domestic Communism
- Recognition of the state of Israel
- International arms control "on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith".
- The admissions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico as states to the union.{{cite web |title=Republican Party Platform of 1948 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25836 }}
Candidates before the convention
- Businessman Riley A. Bender of Illinois
- Speaker of the House Joseph William Martin Jr. of Massachusetts
File:Thomas E. Dewey.jpg|{{center|Governor
Thomas E. Dewey
of New York}}
File:Douglas MacArthur 58-61.jpg|{{center|General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur
from Arkansas}}
File:HaroldStassenOfficialOil.jpg|{{center|Former Governor
Harold Stassen
of Minnesota}}
File:RobertATaft.jpg|{{center|Senator
Robert A. Taft
of Ohio}}
File:Arthur H. Vandenberg.jpg|{{center|Senator
Arthur H. Vandenberg
of Michigan}}
File:Earl Warren Portrait, half figure, seated, facing front, as Governor.jpg|{{center|Governor
Earl Warren
of California}}
File:General Dwight D. Eisenhower.jpg|{{center|General of the Army
Dwight D. Eisenhower
from New York
(Declined)}}
Balloting
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="4" | Presidential Balloting |
| Candidate||1st||2nd||3rd |
|---|
| Dewey
|style="background:#fbb;"|434 |style="background:#fbb;"|515 |style="background:#fbb;"|1,094 |
| Taft
|style="background:#fdd;"|224 |style="background:#fdd;"|274 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Stassen
|style="background:#fee;"|157 |style="background:#fee;"|149 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Vandenberg
||62 ||62 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Warren
||59 ||57 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Green
||56 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Driscoll
||35 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Baldwin
||19 ||19 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Martin
||18 ||10 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Reece
||15 ||1 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| MacArthur
||11 ||7 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Dirksen
||1 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
| Not Voting
||3 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |style="background:#d3d3d3"|0 |
Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (June 24, 1948)
File:1948RepublicanPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|1st Presidential Ballot
File:1948RepublicanPresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png|2nd Presidential Ballot
File:1948RepublicanPresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png|3rd Presidential Ballot
As of 2024, this was the last Republican Convention to go past the first ballot.
Vice presidential nomination
Dewey had a long list of potential running mates, including his 1944 running mate, Senator John Bricker of Ohio, Representative Charles Halleck of Indiana, former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota, and California Governor Earl Warren.
Dewey chose Warren, who was subsequently nominated by acclaimation.
The Dewey–Warren ticket was the last to consist of two current or former state governors until 2016, when former governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld ran on the Libertarian Party ticket.
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25836 Republican Party platform of 1948] at The American Presidency Project
- [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=75628 Dewey acceptance speech] at The American Presidency Project
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGONleUwb6A Video of Dewey acceptance speech for President (via YouTube)]
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{{Republican Party (United States)}}
{{United States presidential election, 1948}}
{{1948 United States elections}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Republican National Conventions
Republican National Convention
Category:Political conventions in Philadelphia
Category:Old Right (United States)
Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention, 1948