The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at Ford's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in the nomination of newspaper publisher

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Benjamin Gratz Brown of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

vice president A vice president or 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 vi ...

, a ticket previously nominated by the rump Liberal Republican faction convention meeting, also held in Baltimore's newly built premier

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

of nationally well-known theatre owner/operator John T. Ford (infamous as the owner of the

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is best known for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

where 16th President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

was assassinated in April 1865) of the major Republican Party, which had already re-nominated incumbent President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

of the regular Republicans for another term. The convention was called to order by

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

chairman

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born Aron Belmont; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, and politician. He served as Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1860 to 1872. He was also a thoroughbred racehors ...

. Thomas Jefferson Randolph served as the convention's temporary chairman and

James R. Doolittle James Rood Doolittle Sr. (January 3, 1815July 27, 1897) was an American lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Wisconsin for 12 years as a United States senator, from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. During h ...

served as permanent president. At six hours in length, stretched over two days, the convention was the shortest meeting of a major political party convention in history.

The convention

Accepting the " Liberal Republican" platform meant the Democrats had accepted the "New Departure", rejecting the anti-

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

platform of 1868: they realized that in order to win, they had to look forward and not try to refight the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

.Dunning 198 While Greeley's long reputation in the years before as the most aggressive attacker of the earlier Democratic Party, its principles, its leadership, and its activists cooled enthusiasm among many of the delegates for the potential nominee, it was accepted that the Democrats would only split the anti-Grant vote and all but assure Grant of re-election if they nominated any other candidate.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Image:Horace Greeley restored (cropped).jpg, Former Representative

Image:JeremiahSBlack.png, Former Secretary of State
Jeremiah S. Black
of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Image:JamesABayardJr.png, Former

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

James A. Bayard
of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Image:Hon. William S. Grossbeck, Ohio - NARA - 526638 (a).jpg, Former Representative William S. Groesbeck
of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Image:William B. Franklin enh.jpg, Major General
William B. Franklin
of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

''(Declined Consideration)'' Major General William B. Franklin was approached by a group of Democrats from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who urged him to run against

for the party's presidential nomination. Citing a need for party unity, Franklin declined their suggestion. On the first ballot, Pennsylvania and New Jersey would cast the majority of votes against Greeley. Horace Greeley received 686 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot. The motion to have Greeley's nomination be declared unanimous was carried. Source:
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872
'. (September 3, 2012).
File:1872DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png,

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

Image:BGratzBrown.png, Image:John Stevenson.jpg, Benjamin G. Brown received 713 of the 732 delegate votes cast on the first ballot. Source:
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872
'. (September 3, 2012).
File:1872DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png,

Straight-Out Democrats Convention

A splinter, conservative group of Democrats broke off due to their dissatisfaction with the nomination of Greeley. Calling themselves the Straight-Out Democrats, they held a Straight-Out Democratic National Convention in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. They nominated for President Charles O'Conor, who told them by telegram that he would not accept their nomination, and John Quincy Adams II for vice president. The candidates received 23,054 votes (0.35%) in the election, and no

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

electors.

References

Primary sources

* Chester, Edward W ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977) pp 90–9
online

External links

*
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872
'
Democratic Party Platform of 1872
at ''The American Presidency Project'' {{Authority control Democratic National Conventions 1870s in Baltimore 1872 United States presidential election Political conventions in Baltimore 1872 in Maryland Maryland Democratic Party Political events in Maryland 1872 conferences July 1872 19th-century political conferences