The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

from June 25 to July 2, 1912.

The Convention

The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in

from June 25 to July 2, 1912. It proved to be one of the more memorable United States presidential conventions of the 20th century. 1904 presidential nominee Judge

Alton B. Parker Alton Brooks Parker (May 14, 1852 – May 10, 1926) was an American judge. He was the Democratic nominee in the 1904 United States presidential election, losing in a landslide to incumbent Republican Theodore Roosevelt. A native of upstate New ...

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 * ...

served as the Temporary chairman and Keynote Speaker while Representative Ollie M. James of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

served as Permanent Convention chairman. , this is the last major party convention to be held in Baltimore.

Presidential candidates

Image:Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg,

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 ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Image:ChampClark.png,

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Champ Clark James Beauchamp Clark (March 7, 1850March 2, 1921) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 36th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919. He was the only Democrat to serve as speaker during the P ...

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 ...

Image:JudsonHarmonLOC.jpg,

Judson Harmon Judson Harmon (February 3, 1846February 22, 1927) was an American United States Democratic Party, Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as United States Attorney General under President Grover Cleveland and later served as the 45th governor ...

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:Thomas Riley Marshall headshot.jpg,

Thomas R. Marshall of

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 ...

Image:Simeon E. Baldwin, 1910.png,

Simeon E. Baldwin 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. ...

Withdrew During Balloting

Image:Oscar W. Underwood.jpg, House Majority Leader

Oscar Underwood Oscar Wilder Underwood (May 6, 1862 – January 25, 1929) was an United States of America, American lawyer and politician from Alabama, and also a candidate for President of the United States in 1912 and 1924. He was the first formally designa ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Image:Governor Foss.png,

Eugene Foss of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Declined

Image:JohnBurke1908.png,

John Burke of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

The main candidates were House Speaker

and

. Both Clark and Wilson had won a number of primaries, and Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson. However, he lacked the two-thirds vote necessary to secure the presidential nomination. Initially, the front runner appeared to be Clark, who received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor

received 148 votes while U.S. Representative Oscar W. Underwood of

, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among the other delegates. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the

delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. Due to the then-official two-thirds rule used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the presidential nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory. C. Vann Woodward stated that the 1912 Democratic nomination was "the first in half a century in which the South played a conspicuous and perhaps even decisive part". Earl Black and Merle Black stated that Underwood was the first southerner following the Civil War to seriously seek the Democratic nomination. Clark was able to gain a majority of the delegate vote, but lacked support in the south which prevented him from passing the two-thirds requirement. In past conventions, once a candidate received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination. Clark's chances were hurt when

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City, threw its support behind him. This was the move that gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, but instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

". Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once the corrupt machine put itself behind Clark, he threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer. Additionally Illinois Democratic Boss, Roger Charles Sullivan and Indiana Democratic Boss Thomas Taggart made a deal with a member of Wilson's campaign. In exchange for having Thomas R. Marshall be Wilsons running mate, Illinois and Indiana would put their support behind Wilson. Before these events, Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. After receiving the support of Bryan, Sullivan, and Taggart, Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the presidential nomination on the 46th ballot.

Presidential balloting

The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860.

Vice presidential candidates

Image:Thomas Riley Marshall headshot.jpg,

Thomas R. Marshall of

Image:George E Chamberlain 2.jpg,

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 ...

George E. Chamberlain of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Image:Elmore W. Hurst LC-DIG-ggbain-12725.jpg, Former State Representative Elmore W. Hurst of

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 ...

=Withdrew During Balloting

= Image:JohnBurke1908.png,

John Burke of

Image:James H. Preston.jpg,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

James H. Preston James Harry Preston (March 23, 1860 – July 14, 1938) was the Mayor of Baltimore from 1911 to 1919. He also served in the Maryland House of Delegates. From 1920 to 1921, he served as president general of the National Society of the Sons of the ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

=Declined

= Image:ChampClark.png,

Image:Martin Wade.jpg, Former Representative Martin J. Wade of

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 ...

Image:William Jennings Bryan, 1860-1925.jpg, Former Representative

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Clark and Bryan were both proposed as vice presidential nominees, but both declined, with Clark preferring to remain as Speaker and Bryan fearful of overshadowing Wilson. Bryan instead proposed Oregon Senator George E. Chamberlain and North Dakota Governor John Burke, the latter of whom became the main progressive candidate.

Thomas R. Marshall of

, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, became the major candidate of conservatives. After the second ballot, Representative William Hughes, a leading campaign manager of Wilson's, successfully proposed making the nomination of Marshall unanimous. Wilson and Marshall went on to win the 1912 presidential election against a split Republican Party. Vice Presidential Balloting / 7th Day of Convention (July 2, 1912) File:1912DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st Vice Presidential Ballot File:1912DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png, 2nd Vice Presidential Ballot

Black delegate

John D. Harkless, commonly known as J. D. Harkless, was the first African American delegate to a Democratic National Convention. He was from Denver and an alternate delegate to the Democratic Party National Convention of 1912 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 ...

, that advanced

, then governor of New Jersey, to be the party's nominee. He was vice president of the National Negro Educational Congress. J. Milton Waldron and Harkless wrote ''The Political Situation in a Nut-shell; Some Un-colored Truths for Colored Voters'' published in 1912. It was anti-Republican.

Female delegate

Anna Pitzer was the only female delegate and also represented Colorado. She was the sister-in-law of

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

who was a candidate for the nomination.

References in popular culture

The primary battles leading up to the 1912 Democratic Convention are a pivotal event in Taylor Caldwell's 1972 novel '' Captains and the Kings''. In the novel, the fictional Irish-Catholic Rory Daniel Armagh, a U.S. Senator from

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 ...

, emerges as the front-runner for the 1912 Democratic presidential nomination after beating Woodrow Wilson in multiple primaries. (Unlike in real life, Champ Clark is not a factor in the novel.) Armagh is assassinated as part of a conspiracy of international power brokers before the convention. Scenes of the convention are depicted in the 1944 biographical film ''Wilson''.

References

Works cited

Bibliography

* ''Official report of the proceedings of the Democratic national convention, held in Baltimore, Maryland, June 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and July 1 and 2, 1912'' * William Jennings Bryan, Virgil V. McNitt. ''A Tale of Two Conventions''. Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1912.

External links

Democratic Party Platform of 1912
at ''The American Presidency Project'' {{Authority control 1912 United States presidential election 1912 in Maryland 1910s in Baltimore Political conventions in Baltimore Maryland Democratic Party Political events in Maryland Democratic National Conventions 1912 conferences June 1912 in the United States July 1912 in the United States 1910s political conferences Tammany Hall

The Convention

Presidential candidates

Withdrew During Balloting

Declined

Presidential balloting

Vice presidential candidates

=Withdrew During Balloting

=Declined

Black delegate

Female delegate

References in popular culture

See also

References

Works cited

Bibliography

External links