The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The Republican National Convention nominated retired Hollywood actor and former Governor Ronald Reagan of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and former Representative George H. W. Bush of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

for

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

. Reagan, running on the theme "Let's

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants ...

," stayed at the Detroit Plaza Hotel in the Renaissance Center, at the time the world's tallest hotel, and delivered his acceptance speech at

. It remains the only major party national political convention to have been held in Detroit. In addition to Reagan, Bush and keynote speaker Guy Vander Jagt; other notable speakers included former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon; former

Defense Secretary The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The se ...

Donald Rumsfeld and former President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

(the convention's opening night coincided with Ford's 67th birthday, and following his speech Ford was presented with a check to help fund the

Gerald Ford Presidential Library The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is a repository located on the north campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The library houses archival materials on the life, career, and presidency of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of t ...

); former Secretary of State

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

; Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater (introduced by his son, California Congressman

Barry Goldwater Jr. Barry Morris Goldwater Jr. (born July 15, 1938) is an American businessman and politician. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California, serving from 1969 to 1983. He is the son of U.S. Senator ...

); New York Congressman

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. B ...

;

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

executive director Benjamin Hooks; Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum (introduced by a film by her father, 1936 Republican presidential nominee Alf Landon); former

Texas Governor The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, w ...

John Connally and former Ambassador to the United Kingdom

Anne Armstrong Anne Legendre Armstrong (December 27, 1927 – July 30, 2008) was a United States diplomat and politician. She was the first woman to serve as Counselor to the President and as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, serving in those cap ...

Presidential vote

Following victories in several delegate-rich primaries in April and early-May, the former governor had a lock on the nomination prior to the convention. His last remaining opponent in the race, George H. W. Bush, dropped out on May 26 and urged his supporters to back Reagan. Under party rules then in place, only Reagan's name was officially placed in nomination. Because of this, former contender

John B. Anderson John Bayard Anderson (February 15, 1922 – December 3, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. A member ...

's goal having a speaker at the convention was thwarted.

The vice presidential selection

Reagan waited until the Convention in July to announce his choice of a running mate, as was customary at the time. A short list of prospective running mates was put together after Reagan clinched the presidential nomination, including Howard Baker, William Simon,

, Richard Lugar, Paul Laxalt and George Bush.

Possible selection of Gerald Ford

Shortly before the convention, the possibility of choosing former President

as the vice presidential nominee was given some consideration. Ford asked for certain powers and prerogatives that have been described as making Ford a co-president (had he been chosen). Negotiations for the terms of such an arrangement were held at the Hotel Pontchartrain. These included the return of

as secretary of State and the appointment of

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...

as secretary of the Treasury in a "package deal". On July 16, Ford was interviewed by Walter Cronkite. According to

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

, "The whole convention came to a stop," when, after being asked by Cronkite, Ford did not dismiss rumors that Reagan was considering him as a running mate. However, negotiations ultimately fell apart later that day when the two sides could not come to an agreement.

Selection of George Bush

Reagan's selection of George Bush as his running mate unfolded after the negotiations with Ford reached an impasse, and was finalized less than 24 hours before the ticket was announced. It was Richard Allen, then Reagan's chief foreign policy advisor, who suggested Bush as a viable alternative to Ford, believing that he possessed "the best credentials of the possible running mates mentioned".

The vice presidential vote

Detroit December 2015 59 (Joe Louis Arena)

Even though Reagan had taken the unprecedented step of announcing his running mate choice from the podium of the convention himself, some delegates still resented Bush for defeating Reagan in a number of primaries, and especially the Iowa caucuses. In a direct challenge to Bush's nomination, they nominated

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe ...

to oppose him. The effort went nowhere, and Bush won by an overwhelming margin. This would be the last time during the 20th century that the bottom half of the ticket would be contested, as the rules would be changed in 1988 to prevent this from happening again.

References

External links

Ronald Reagan's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(video) at ''C-SPAN''
Video of Bush nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube)

Ronald Reagan's nomination acceptance speech
(text) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Republican Party platform of 1980
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Ronald Reagan's nomination acceptance speech
(audio) {{Authority control Republican National Conventions 1980 in Detroit Republican National Convention 1980 in Michigan Republican Party (United States) events in Michigan 1980 conferences July 1980 events in the United States