5 Hotly Contested Conventions in History
It’s no secret that the 2016 presidential race has been one of the most bizarre, confounding elections of our time—even Stephen Hawking can’t make sense of it.
Though Hillary Clinton has all but clinched the Democratic nomination, her come-from-behind challenger, Bernie Sanders, has promised to take his bid for the nomination to the floor of the Democratic National Convention floor in Philadelphia July 25 through July 28. Not only could that wreak havoc on Democrats’ hopes to unify the party as the country heads into the general election, it could get really ugly: Given the recent harassment and at times violent vitriol from Sanders supporters at rallies across the country, the gathering this summer in the City of Brotherly Love has the makings of a full-blown throwdown. And Democrats aren’t alone.
While most of the establishment GOP has coalesced around Donald Trump, supporters and protesters at his rallies on the campaign trail have come to blows more than once, stoking fears over whether attendees could grimly collide with planned demonstrations at the Republican National Convention, in Cleveland from July 18 to July 21.
JUNE 1912: TEDDY ROOSEVELT STORMS THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
In 1909, after two terms in office, Teddy Roosevelt retired the Oval Office to his protege and fellow Republican William Howard Taft, whom he called the most lovable man he knew. During Taft’s term, though, the bromance soured as Taft opposed his predecessor’s view of the judiciary and a scandal between the chief forester and the Secretary of the Interior led Roosevelt to doubt Taft’s commitment to environmental conservation. Evidently unsatisfied having given up his power, Roosevelt challenged Taft for the GOP nomination in 1912. Though Roosevelt won nearly all of the Republican primaries, Taft’s men controlled the Republican National Committee and subsequently awarded enough delegates to his side to give the incumbent the nomination.
Unrelenting, Roosevelt and his supporters stormed the Chicago convention, prepared to take the nomination—which he said the people had decided—by any means necessary: He told his nephew that his supporters would use “roughhouse tactics” and “terrorize” the party’s leaders if they didn’t take his side. But Missouri Governor Herbert Hadley, the Roosevelt supporter tasked with launching the aggressive plan, chickened out at the last minute and failed to give the signal to start. Realizing he couldn’t take the nomination by force or otherwise, Roosevelt walked out and mounted a third-party bid as the Progressive Party’s candidate—splitting the Republican vote in November and handing Democrat Woodrow Wilson the presidency.
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