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The 1988 Republican National Convention was held in the 
The convention nominated
The convention is perhaps best known for Bush's "Reagan's speech
at the 1988 Convention on the opening night of the convention, as he would for the last time in 1992. Other speakers included Bob Dole,
File:President Reagan's Remarks at the Republican National Convention on August 14, 1988.webm, President Reagan's Remarks at the Republican National Convention on August 14, 1988
File:President Reagan's Address to the Republican National Convention, August 15, 1988.webm, President Reagan's Address to the Republican National Convention, August 15, 1988
File:Nancy Reagan's Address to the Republican National Convention on August 15, 1988.webm, Nancy Reagan's Address to the Republican National Convention on August 15, 1988
File:Celebration after President Reagan's Speech at Republican National Convention on August 15, 1988.webm, Celebration after President Reagan's Speech at Republican National Convention on August 15, 1988
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(video) at ''C-SPAN''
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(audio)
Video of Quayle nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube)
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(text) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Republican Party platform of 1988
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Video (with audio) of Thomas Kean's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention
Text of Thomas Kean's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention
{{Authority control Republican National Conventions Republican National Convention, 1988 1988 United States presidential election 1988 in Louisiana Caesars Superdome 1988 conferences August 1988 events in the United States
Louisiana Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
in , Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, from August 15 to August 18, 1988. It was the second time that a major party held its convention in one of the five states known as the Deep South, coming on the heels of the 1988 Democratic National Convention, which was held in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Much of the impetus for holding the convention in the Superdome came from the Louisiana Republican National Committeewoman Virginia Martinez of New Orleans, who lobbied on behalf of her adopted home city as the convention site as a member of the RNC Executive Committee.
The convention nominated 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 Bush
George Bush most commonly refers to:
* George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd president
* George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the United States and son of the 41st president
Georg ...
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 ...
, as expected. The second spot on the ticket was not publicly known before the convention; James Danforth "Dan" Quayle, U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
from Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, was selected as Bush's vice presidential running mate. The revelation of Quayle's selection as running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pr ...
did not come until the second day of the convention, when NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
broke the story. As of 2020, it was the last time a major party's presidential candidate announced his vice presidential choice during his party's convention.
The convention featured speeches by Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...
, Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...
, a keynote address by New Jersey Governor
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...
Thomas Kean
Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...
, and the music of the Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra. Actress Helen Hayes attended the conference at age 88.
Speakers
The convention is perhaps best known for Bush's "thousand points of light
The phrase "a thousand points of light" was popularized by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and later formed the name of a private, non-profit organization launched by Bush to support volunteerism.
History
The first known instance of the phras ...
" speech accepting the nomination. Written by Peggy Noonan
Margaret Ellen Noonan (born 1950), known as Peggy Noonan, is a weekly columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', and contributor to NBC News and ABC News. She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 t ...
and Craig R. Smith, it included the "read my lips: no new taxes
"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a phrase spoken by American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18. Written by speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the line was the mo ...
" pledge that was the most popular sound bite
A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...
coming out of the convention. The successful speech gave him a " bounce" that he was able to capitalize on to win the 1988 presidential election.
President Ronald and Nancy Reagan were honored on August 15. Reagan made a major speechat the 1988 Convention on the opening night of the convention, as he would for the last time in 1992. Other speakers included Bob Dole,
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 ...
, Arizona junior senator John McCain, 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 ...
and former 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 ...
Gerald Ford.
Voting
The Balloting: With rumblings of opposition to the Quayle nomination, it was decided to have it ratified by voice vote, something that the Republicans had never done before, but would become standard practice in the decades to come.See also
*1988 Republican Party presidential primaries
From January 14 to June 14, 1988, Republican voters chose their nominee for president in the 1988 United States presidential election. Incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections ...
* George H. W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign
* History of the United States Republican Party
*List of Republican National Conventions
This is a list of Republican National Conventions. The quadrennial convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States.
List of Republican National Conventions
Note: Conventions whose nominees won ...
*U.S. presidential nomination convention
A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpo ...
*1987 Libertarian National Convention
The 1987 Libertarian National Convention was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle, Washington, from September 4 to September 6, 1987. Ron Paul of Texas was chosen as the Libertarian Party's nominee for president in the 1988 election.
Libertari ...
* 1988 Democratic National Convention
* 1988 United States presidential election
References
External links
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(video) at ''C-SPAN''
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(audio)
Video of Quayle nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube)
George Bush's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
(text) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Republican Party platform of 1988
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Video (with audio) of Thomas Kean's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention
Text of Thomas Kean's Keynote Address at Republican National Convention
{{Authority control Republican National Conventions Republican National Convention, 1988 1988 United States presidential election 1988 in Louisiana Caesars Superdome 1988 conferences August 1988 events in the United States