Democratic Rallies

The 42 Democratic conventions before this year’s meeting in Los Angeles have ranged from the routine--President Woodrow Wilson was nominated for a second term in 1916 on a 1,092-to-1 vote--to the explosive, as when the “Dixiecrats” bolted from the party in 1948. The first Democratic convention took place in 1832, a year after the first national nominating convention in U.S. history was held by the Anti-Masonic Party in 1831.

1832

Baltimore

Andrew Jackson *

*

1836

Baltimore

Martin Van Buren *

*

1840

Baltimore

Martin Van Buren

*

1844

Baltimore

James Polk *

*

1848

Baltimore

Lewis Cass

Convention votes to establish a continuing committee, known as “Democratic National Committee.”

*

1852

Baltimore

Franklin Pierce *

*

1856

Cincinnati

James Buchanan *

*

1860

Charleston, S.C., and Baltimore

Stephen Douglas

The convention deadlocks over wording of the slavery plank, with several dozen Southern delegates stomping out of the hall in Charleston. Delegates later reconvene in Baltimore to finish work.

*

1864

Chicago

George B. McClellan

*

1868

New York

Horatio Seymour

Susan B. Anthony urges support of women’s suffrage.

*

1872

Baltimore

Horace Greeley

*

1876

St. Louis

Samuel Tilden

*

1880

Cincinnati

Winfield S. Hancock

*

1884

Chicago

Grover Cleveland *

Cleveland becomes the first Democrat to take the White House in 28 years.

*

1888

St. Louis

Grover Cleveland

*

1892

Chicago

Grover Cleveland *

*

1896

Chicago

William Jennings Bryan

*

1900

Kansas City, Mo.

William Jennings Bryan

For the first time, each party had one woman delegate.

*

1904

St. Louis

Alton B. Parker

*

1908

Denver

William Jennings Bryan

*

1912

Baltimore

Woodrow Wilson *

*

1916

St. Louis

Woodrow Wilson *

*

1920

San Francisco

James M. Cox

The first Democratic convention held in California.

*

1924

New York

John W. Davis

Davis is nominated on the 103rd ballot, a record. A platform proposal to condemn the Ku Klux Klan is defeated 543-542.

*

1928

Houston

Alfred E. Smith

Smith becomes the first Roman Catholic nominated by a major party.

*

1932

Chicago

Franklin D. Roosevelt *

Roosevelt is the first major party candidate to accept the nomination in person.

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1936

Philadelphia

Franklin D. Roosevelt *

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1940

Chicago

Franklin D. Roosevelt *

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1944

Chicago

Franklin D. Roosevelt *

*

1948

Philadelphia

Harry S. Truman *

Northern delegates craft a civil rights plank that prompts some Southern delegates to leave and form the “Dixiecrats,” who nominate South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond for president.

*

1952

Chicago

Adlai E. Stevenson

*

1956

Chicago

Adlai E. Stevenson

*

1960

Los Angeles

John F. Kennedy *

*

1964

Atlantic City, N.J.

Lyndon B. Johnson *

*

1968

Chicago

Hubert H. Humphrey

A divided Democratic Party defeats anti-war platform statements, including a call for a halt to bombing in North Vietnam.

*

1972

Miami Beach, Fla.

George McGovern

*

1976

New York

Jimmy Carter *

*

1980

New York

Jimmy Carter

*

1984

San Francisco

Walter Mondale

Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York is nominated as vice president, the first woman placed on a national ticket by a major party.

*

1988

Atlanta

Mike Dukakis

*

1992

New York

Bill Clinton *

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown captures nearly 40% of California delegates.

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1996

Chicago

Bill Clinton *

*

Sources: Democratic National Convention; “National Party Conventions, 1831-1996,” Harry Rubenstein, curator, political history collections, Smithsonian, National Museum of American History; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Bruce Newman, DePaul University; AP wire reports.

* Elected president