1960 Republican National Convention

1960 Republican National Convention

1960 presidential election
Nominees Nixon and Lodge
Convention
Date(s)	July 25–28, 1960
City	Chicago
Venue	International Amphitheatre
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Richard M. Nixon of California
Vice presidential nominee	Henry C. Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts
‹ 1956 · 1964 ›

The 1960 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 25 to July 28, 1960, at the International Amphitheatre. It was the 14th and most recent time overall that Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention, more times than any other city.

The convention nominated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for president and former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts for vice president.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

• 
  Vice President
  Richard Nixon
  of California
• 
  Senator
  Barry Goldwater
  of Arizona
  (Declined Consideration)

By the time the Republican convention opened, Nixon had no opponents for the nomination. The highlight of the convention was the speech by U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona removing himself from the race, in which he called on conservatives to "take back" the party. Nixon won easily, earning 1,321 votes to 10 for Goldwater.^[1] At the convention, Nixon promised that he would visit every state during his campaign.^[2]

Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (July 27, 1960)

• 
  1st Presidential Ballot

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

• 
  UN Ambassador
  Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
  of Massachusetts
• 
  Senator
  Thruston B. Morton
  of Kentucky
• 
  Representative
  Walter Judd
  of Minnesota
• 
  Treasury Secretary
  Robert B. Anderson
  of Texas
• 
  Senator
  Prescott Bush
  of Connecticut
• 
  Senate Minority Leader
  Everett Dirksen
  of Illinois
• 
  HEW Secretary
  Arthur Flemming
  of Ohio
• 
  Representative
  Gerald Ford
  of Michigan
• 
  Labor Secretary
  James P. Mitchell
  of New Jersey
• 
  Governor
  Nelson Rockefeller
  of New York
• 
  Senator
  Hugh Scott
  of Pennsylvania
• 
  Interior Secretary
  Fred A. Seaton
  of Nebraska
• 
  Governor
  William Stratton
  of Illinois
• 
  Former State Representative
  Philip Willkie
  of Indiana

After winning the presidential nomination, Nixon considered several candidates for the vice presidential nomination. Incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower strongly supported Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.^[3] Though Lodge was not viewed by Republicans as a charismatic speaker, his foreign policy experience as well as his longtime Republican Party ties as a descendant of the Lodge family made him an appealing candidate.^[3]

Lodge was unpopular with the conservative wing of the party, who regarded him as a Northeastern moderate.^[3] As a result of the conservatives' coolness toward Lodge, Nixon strongly considered conservative Minnesota Representative Walter Judd and U.S. Senator Thruston Morton of Kentucky, an establishment Republican who was more moderate than Judd but had a high profile as chairman of the Republican National Committee.^[4]

Other candidates Nixon may have considered include:

• Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona (Would be nominated for President in 1964)
• Charles A. Halleck, U.S. House Minority Leader from Indiana
• Neil H. McElroy, former Secretary of Defense from Ohio
• Charles H. Percy, businessman from Illinois
• William P. Rogers, U.S. Attorney General from Maryland

After deciding on Lodge, Nixon participated in a closed session with party leaders, who concurred with his preference.^[4] After the session, Nixon announced his choice publicly, and the convention ratified it.

Vice Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (July 28, 1960)

• 
  1st
  Vice Presidential Ballot

General election

The Nixon-Lodge ticket lost the 1960 election to the Democratic ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

See also

• History of the United States Republican Party
• List of Republican National Conventions
• U.S. presidential nomination convention
• 1960 Democratic National Convention
• 1960 United States presidential election

References

External links

• Republican Party platform of 1960 at The American Presidency Project
• Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
• Universal newsreel footage of the convention
• Video of Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC from C-SPAN (via YouTube)
• Audio of Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC^{[permanent dead link]}
• Video of Lodge nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC from C-SPAN (via YouTube)