Neha Patil (Editor)

1948 Republican National Convention

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Date(s)
  
June 21–25, 1948

Venue
  
Convention Hall

1948 Republican National Convention

City
  
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Presidential nominee
  
Thomas E. Dewey of New York

Vice Presidential nominee
  
Earl Warren of California

The 1948 Republican National Convention was held at the Municipal Auditorium, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 21 to 25, 1948.

Contents

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 the 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 surprisingly 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 the ability for two of the three then young television networks to telecast for the first time live gavel to gavel coverage. Televised primarily to the East Coast by The Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS, and The National Broadcasting Company, NBC, only a few minutes of kinescope film have survived of these historic broadcasts.

Platform

The party platform formally adopted at the convention included the following points:

  • Reduction of the public debt
  • Reduction of the inheritance tax
  • Labor reform
  • Promotion of small business through reduction of governmental intervention and regulation.
  • 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.

    • Candidates before the convention

  • Businessman Riley A. Bender of Illinois
  • Speaker of the House Joseph William Martin, Jr. of Massachusetts

    • Vice-presidential nomination

    Dewey had a long list of potential running-mates, including the option of reselecting his 1944 running mate Senator John Bricker of Ohio or choosing someone else in Congressman Charles Halleck of Indiana, and former-Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota. Dewey however, chose two-term California Governor Earl Warren as his running-mate; Warren was nominated unopposed.

    References

    1948 Republican National Convention Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA