Logistics of the 1952 Democratic and Republican National Conventions

In 1952, the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention were both held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois during separate weeks of July. The Republicans met July 7–11, while the Democrats met July 21–26.

While the parties selected the location of their conventions separately, they had expressed advance interest in sharing a convention site in order to lower costs (as they had done for the previous two presidential elections). Six cities formally bid for one or both conventions. By the time the choice for each convention was made, the bidding had narrowed, with only Chicago and Philadelphia being considered. Chicago prevailed in its bid, first securing the Republican convention, and securing the Democratic convention several weeks after that.

The conventions were the first United States presidential nominating conventions to be televised in real-time nationwide. The Democrats adapted their convention last-minute to eliminate several aspects that had come across unflattering for Republicans during their convention. Among advents introduced due to television was the Democrats' debuting a concealed speech teleprompter. The International Amphitheatre was the site of the conventions instead of the even-larger Chicago Stadium arena (the site of the several most recent conventions previously held in the city) due to the assessment of party leaders that it was more suited for television broadcasting. A major undertaking in preparation for the convention was the installation of an expensive and powerful air conditioning system at the International Amphitheatre, making the 1952 conventions the first major party presidential nominating conventions to be held inside of an air conditioned venue.

Other important aspects of the conventions' logistics included arrangement of overnight hotel accommodations, transportation, finances, and entertainment for conventiongoers.