Elections With Incumbents: The Election of 1924
In the election of 1924, Calvin Coolidge, who had become President upon the death of Warren Harding, sought the office in his own right. Theodore Roosevelt had done the same thing two decades earlier, making him the first "accidental president" to go on to win the office. The dutiful Coolidge wanted to be the second. His opponent would John W. Davis, a little-known Democrat, who would later gain notoriety as a lawyer who argued prominent civil rights cases, on behalf of the states who wanted to prevent the advancement of those rights. (Davis would be the losing counsel in the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education). Davis was a sort of "accidental candidate", who finally won the nomination after the longest nominating convention ever held by either of the two main political parties.
Coolidge had been vice-president under Warren G. Harding and became president in 1923 when Harding died while on a western trip. In the short time that he had succeeded Harding, Coolidge was given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad. He was also seen as someone who could clean up the corruption that had been occurring on Harding's watch.
His candidacy was aided by a split within the Democratic Party. The Democratic party nominated John W. Davis, a former congressman and diplomat from West Virginia. Davis was a conservative and when he was nominated on the 103rd ballot, many liberal Democrats bolted the party and backed the third-party campaign of Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, who ran as the candidate of the Progressive Party. This was the first presidential election in which all American Indians were recognized as citizens and allowed to vote.
The Republican Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio from June 10 to June 12. Coolidge was easily nominated on the first ballot. The greater drama occurred in the selection of Coolidge's running mate. Former Illinois Governor Frank Orren Lowden was nominated for the position on the second ballot, but he declined the honor and Charles G. Dawes, a prominent Republican businessman, was nominated for vice-president instead.
The Democratic Party held their convention in New York City from June 24 to July 9. The two leading candidates were William Gibbs McAdoo of California, former Secretary of the Treasury and son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson; and Governor Al Smith of New York. McAdoo was supported mostly by rural, Protestant delegates from the South, West, and small-town Midwest who were supporters of Prohibition (called "drys"). Some of his supporters were members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which at the time had chapters in all 48 states and 4 to 5 million members. Governor Smith was supported by the anti-Prohibition forces (called "wets"), many Roman Catholics and other ethnic minorities, big-city delegates in the Northeast and urban Midwest, and by liberal delegates opposed to the influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Due to the rule that a successfiul candidate required a two-thirds majority, neither candidate was able to win enough votes and neither would back down. The deadlock continued for days on end.
Eventually the convention would go to 103 ballots, becoming the longest-running political convention in American history. Will Rogers, a popular comedian of the era, joked that New York had invited the Democratic delegates to visit the city, not to live there. On the 100th ballot both Smith and McAdoo mutually withdrew as candidates. This allowed the convention's delegates to search for a compromise candidate acceptable to both Smith and McAdoo supporters. Finally, on the 103rd ballot, John W. Davis, an obscure former Congressman from West Virginia was selected as the presidential nominee. The Democrats' disarray prompted Will Rogers's famous quip: "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!" Governor of Nebraska Charles W. Bryan, William Jennings Bryan's brother, was nominated for vice-president.
With the disastrous Democratic Convention having badly divided the party, and with the economy booming, Coolidge coasted to victory. His campaign slogan, "Keep Cool with Coolidge", was highly popular. Davis carried only the traditionally Democratic Solid South and Oklahoma. Due to liberal Democrats voting for Robert La Follette, Davis lost the popular vote to Coolidge by 25.2 percentage points. Coolidge won 382 electoral votes, compared to 182 for Davis and 13 for Progressive Party candidate Robert LaFollette.
It was not all celebration for Coolidge. On July 7, 1924, Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and within days Calvin, Jr. developed sepsis and died. After that Coolidge became withdrawn. He later wrote of Calvin Jr. in his autobiography that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him."
Coolidge had been vice-president under Warren G. Harding and became president in 1923 when Harding died while on a western trip. In the short time that he had succeeded Harding, Coolidge was given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad. He was also seen as someone who could clean up the corruption that had been occurring on Harding's watch.
His candidacy was aided by a split within the Democratic Party. The Democratic party nominated John W. Davis, a former congressman and diplomat from West Virginia. Davis was a conservative and when he was nominated on the 103rd ballot, many liberal Democrats bolted the party and backed the third-party campaign of Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, who ran as the candidate of the Progressive Party. This was the first presidential election in which all American Indians were recognized as citizens and allowed to vote.
The Republican Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio from June 10 to June 12. Coolidge was easily nominated on the first ballot. The greater drama occurred in the selection of Coolidge's running mate. Former Illinois Governor Frank Orren Lowden was nominated for the position on the second ballot, but he declined the honor and Charles G. Dawes, a prominent Republican businessman, was nominated for vice-president instead.
The Democratic Party held their convention in New York City from June 24 to July 9. The two leading candidates were William Gibbs McAdoo of California, former Secretary of the Treasury and son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson; and Governor Al Smith of New York. McAdoo was supported mostly by rural, Protestant delegates from the South, West, and small-town Midwest who were supporters of Prohibition (called "drys"). Some of his supporters were members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which at the time had chapters in all 48 states and 4 to 5 million members. Governor Smith was supported by the anti-Prohibition forces (called "wets"), many Roman Catholics and other ethnic minorities, big-city delegates in the Northeast and urban Midwest, and by liberal delegates opposed to the influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Due to the rule that a successfiul candidate required a two-thirds majority, neither candidate was able to win enough votes and neither would back down. The deadlock continued for days on end.
Eventually the convention would go to 103 ballots, becoming the longest-running political convention in American history. Will Rogers, a popular comedian of the era, joked that New York had invited the Democratic delegates to visit the city, not to live there. On the 100th ballot both Smith and McAdoo mutually withdrew as candidates. This allowed the convention's delegates to search for a compromise candidate acceptable to both Smith and McAdoo supporters. Finally, on the 103rd ballot, John W. Davis, an obscure former Congressman from West Virginia was selected as the presidential nominee. The Democrats' disarray prompted Will Rogers's famous quip: "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!" Governor of Nebraska Charles W. Bryan, William Jennings Bryan's brother, was nominated for vice-president.
With the disastrous Democratic Convention having badly divided the party, and with the economy booming, Coolidge coasted to victory. His campaign slogan, "Keep Cool with Coolidge", was highly popular. Davis carried only the traditionally Democratic Solid South and Oklahoma. Due to liberal Democrats voting for Robert La Follette, Davis lost the popular vote to Coolidge by 25.2 percentage points. Coolidge won 382 electoral votes, compared to 182 for Davis and 13 for Progressive Party candidate Robert LaFollette.
It was not all celebration for Coolidge. On July 7, 1924, Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and within days Calvin, Jr. developed sepsis and died. After that Coolidge became withdrawn. He later wrote of Calvin Jr. in his autobiography that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him."