The 1984 Republican National Convention convened on August 20 to August 23, 1984, at Dallas Convention Center in

downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally ...

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 ...

. The convention nominated

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 ...

Ronald W. Reagan and

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 ...

George H. W. Bush for reelection. It was the thirty-third

GOP The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by Abolitionism in the United Stat ...

presidential nominating convention, the first Republican convention held in Texas (the first Republican convention in the South outside

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

), and the only convention of either party held in Dallas. Reagan's popularity had rebounded after the

early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1983. It is widely considered to have been the most severe recession since World War II. A key event leading to ...

, and he became the first incumbent president since

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1964 to run without serious opposition in the primary. The

keynote address A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework f ...

on August 20 was delivered by Katherine Ortega,

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage produc ...

. Other speakers included

Elizabeth Dole Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...

, United States Secretary of Transportation;

Jeane Kirkpatrick Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lo ...

, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (who delivered her now-famous "Blame America First" speech); and

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Jack Kemp of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. The convention also included a valedictory address by U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, who would retire in 1987. Goldwater was widely credited as the political founder of the

New Right New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, of which Reagan was the political heir, and Reagan had gained notice for his
A Time for Choosing
speech supporting Goldwater in October 1964. Vice President George H.W. Bush gave a powerful address, some believing it debuted him as the de facto nominee of the GOP in 1988. President Reagan spoke after, and addressed the nation and the party on the future and highlighted the "Morning in America". Country singer

Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He also plays the saxophone. Active since 1962, he has released more than 20 major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the ''Billboa ...

was also featured, and sang " God Bless the U.S.A.," which had been released earlier that year.

Nomination tallies

The Balloting: To save time, the vice presidential vote was held simultaneously, with Vice President Bush receiving 2,042 votes and Jack Kemp and Anne Armstrong receiving one vote each. This would be the last vice presidential tally at a Republican Convention during the 20th century.

Security

The convention was recruited to Dallas by the chairman of the host committee, later Texas state Republican chairman, Fred Meyer, a Dallas business who was then the president of the Tyler Corporation. The Dallas Police Department, under Police Chief Billy Prince, was charged with providing security for the convention, including that of the delegates, President Ronald Reagan, and Vice President George H.W. Bush. Security planning, preparations and training for the event began in the police department a year in advance of the convention. President Reagan and Vice President Bush were scheduled to be housed in separate towers of the Anatole Hotel complex near downtown. Key commanders of the security plan included: *Convention Security Commander - Assistant Chief Leslie Sweet *Field Operations Commander - Deputy Chief William Newman *Headquarters Hotel Commander - Captain Doug Sword *Intelligence Commander - Captain Greg Holliday *Convention Center Commander - Captain Dwight Walker *Detention Services Commander - Captain Frank Hearron *Dignitary Protection Commander - Captain John Holt *Traffic Control Commander - Captain T.D. Tolleson *Demonstration Management Commander - Captain Ray Hawkins *Support Services Commander - Captain John Squier *Presidential Hotel Response Team Commander - Lieutenant Rick Stone The only incident of any consequence to occur during the convention was when the

Yippies The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on D ...

made headlines. On Wednesday, August 22, 1984, a group of protesters calling itself the "Corporate War Chest Tour" conducted a minor theft and vandalism spree against businesses in downtown Dallas. Under the security plan, various police response teams were mobilized consisting primarily of the Demonstration Management teams under the command of Captain Hawkins and the Presidential Hotel Response Teams, commanded by Lieutenant Stone, which were held in reserve on the eastern perimeter of downtown. Dozens of protesters were peacefully arrested including,

Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade The Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade (RCYB) was the former youth group of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. History The group was launched in 1977. It was founded as the Attica Brigade, and then was renamed the Revolutionary Student ...

member

Gregory Lee Johnson Gregory Lee "Joey" Johnson (born 1956) is an American political activist affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party USA. His burning of the flag of the United States in a political demonstration during the 1984 Republican National Conven ...

, who burned a

U.S. flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

, which had been stolen from a flagpole in front of a downtown building. Johnson was charged with Desecration of Venerated Object, a misdemeanor violation of the Texas Penal Code. He was later convicted and his conviction was upheld at the state level. Johnson appealed the conviction to the federal courts, arguing that burning the flag was protected by the

First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...

. The case of '' Texas v. Johnson'' was appealed to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, which ruled on June 21, 1989, in Johnson's favor and invalidated flag desecration statutes throughout the country. The remains of the charred flag were gathered by a civil servant, Daniel E. Walker of Fort Worth, who buried them according to military protocol in his backyard.

References

External links

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

Audio of Bush nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC

* ttp://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40290 Ronald Reagan's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC(text) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Republican Party platform of 1984
at ''The American Presidency Project'' *

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

Address on Foreign Policy
delivered August 20 by

, Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Video (with audio) of Katherine Ortega's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20170821084248/http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php?p=tags Ronald Reagan's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC(audio) {{Authority control Republican National Conventions Republican National Convention, 1984 1984 United States presidential election 1984 in Texas Republican Party (United States) events in Texas 1984 conferences Political conventions in Texas August 1984 events in the United States

Nomination tallies

Security

See also

References

External links