The 1904 Republican National Convention was held in the

Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas, which stood at various times in Chicago, Illinois, from the 1860s to 1982. They served as venues for large national conventions, exhibition halls, sports events, and entertai ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Cook County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, on June 21 to June 23, 1904. The popular President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

had easily ensured himself of the nomination; a threat had come from the Old Guard favourite Ohio

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 ...

Mark Hanna, the loyal kingmaker in Republican politics, but he died early in 1904, which ended any opposition to Roosevelt within the Republican Party. There were also very informal talks with future president

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

about trying for the nomination, but Taft refused these motions as evidenced by a letter to Henry Hoyt, the Solicitor General, in 1903. Roosevelt was nominated by 994 votes to none, while the only other serious opponent to Roosevelt, Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks, was nominated for

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 ...

by acclaimation.

Convention

Delegates from Wisconsin controlled by Robert M. La Follette were not seated and conservatives delegates controlled by John Coit Spooner were accepted instead. Two delegations, one all-white lily-white delegation led by Henry C. Warmoth and a mixed-race black-and-tan delegation led by Walter L. Cohen, were sent from Louisiana. The credentials committee voted to seat the black-and-tan delegation on June 16, but later changed it to accept four at-large delegates from both factions and each one holding half a vote. Elihu Root and

Joseph Gurney Cannon Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and a leader of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Cannon represented parts of Illinois in the United States House of Rep ...

were selected as the presiding officers of the convention. Henry Cabot Lodge was selected to chair the Committee on Resolutions.

Platform

The 1904 Republican platform favored the protective tariff, increased foreign trade, the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

, expansion of the Merchant Marine and strengthening of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

; it also praised Roosevelt's foreign and domestic policies.

Vice presidential candidates

As Theodore Roosevelt had ascended to the presidency following the death of

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

on September 14, 1901, he served the remainder of McKinley's term without a vice president as the

Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability. It clarifies that the Vice President of the United States, vice president becomes President of th ...

had not yet been passed. This also left the convention with the task of choosing a running mate for Roosevelt. Entering the convention, Senator Charles Fairbanks of Indiana was considered the likely favorite for the vice presidential nomination, but the Roosevelt administration favored Illinois Representative Robert R. Hitt or Secretary of War

of Ohio; Speaker

of Illinois also had support among the delegates, but Cannon had no desire to leave his position in the House. After the administration decided not to launch a fight over the nomination of Fairbanks, he was nominated by acclamation.

Speakers

There were significantly fewer speakers at the 1904 convention than there are at a typical convention today. This is because the convention at the time was much lower in viewership (as there were not the mass media devices of TV or radio at this time only those actually invited saw it). Also, this was before the primary era so the delegates were expected to nominate the candidate at the actual convention as well as more typical tasks such as electing the chairman and handling other business which varies in importance at the Republican Convention today. Nonetheless, there were speeches by the following individuals at the 1904 Republican National Convention:

Tuesday, June 21

*Opening prayer by Rev. Timothy Prescott Frost, D. D. * Elihu Root,

United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

Wednesday, June 22

* Opening prayer by Rev. Thomas E. Cox *

, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Convention Chairman.

Thursday, June 23

* Opening prayer by Rev. Thaddeus A. Snively * Frank S. Black, Governor of New York * Albert J. Beveridge, United States Senator from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

* George A. Knight, attorney and businessman * H.S. Edwards, Southern writer * William O'Connell Bradley, former Kentucky Governor * Joseph B. Cotton, former

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

State Representative * Harry Sythe Cummings, first African-American City Councilman from

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* Jonathan P. Dolliver, United States Senator from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

* Chauncey Depew, United States Senator from New York *

Joseph B. Foraker Joseph Benson Foraker (July 5, 1846 – May 10, 1917) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 37th governor of Ohio from 1886 to 1890 and as a United States senator from Ohio from 1897 until 1909. Foraker was ...

, United States Senator from

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and former Governor of Ohio * Samuel W. Pennypacker, Governor of

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* Thomas H. Carter, United States Senator from

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Roosevelt and his running mate Charles W. Fairbanks were unanimously nominated, but unlike candidates today, they did not give convention speeches, instead having individuals give nominating speeches for them. Roosevelt's nomination speech was made by former New York Governor Frank S. Black and was seconded by Indiana Senator Albert Beveridge. Fairbanks's nomination speech was made by Iowa Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver and was seconded by New York Senator Chauncey Depew.

References

Works cited

* *

Bibliography

Official Proceedings of the Thirteenth Republican National Convention: Held in the City of Chicago, June 21, 22, 23, 1904

External links

Republican Party platform of 1904
at ''The American Presidency Project'' {{Authority control 1904 United States presidential election Political conventions in Chicago Republican National Conventions 1904 in Illinois 1904 conferences June 1904 in the United States 1900s political conferences 1900s in Chicago Events at Chicago Coliseum Charles W. Fairbanks Theodore Roosevelt