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If you thought Clint Eastwood's "Invisible Obama" was outrageous, then...well, you'd be right, but I did a little digging and found a four other conventions where things got a bit out of hand.
1. The Klan and The Catholics - The 1924 Democratic Convention
This convention featured New York Governor Al Smith who was supported by urban Catholics who endorsed Smith's efforts to repeal prohibition verses former Treasury Secretary William McAdoo whose supporters included rural, Protestant, anti-alcohol supporters which also included the Klu Klux Klan.
While speeches were being made inside, hooded Klan members were burning crosses and defacing effigies of Smith outside. Before long outraged delegates attempted to condemn the Klan and soon everything plunged into chaos with delegates shouting each other off the podium and protest parades emerging. Police were called in to restore order and the Klan measure failed by a single vote, but that paled in comparison to the nomination itself.
Sixteen days and 103 official voting efforts failed to nominate either man and both agreed to step aside in favor of former Solicitor General John Davis who both factions were willing to accept.
2. The South Shall Rise Again -- And Walk Out
As what could be called a prelude to the real Civil War, the 1860 Democratic Convention sure looked like a warm up to the real deal. Southern Dems demanded from their Northern Dems an adoption of a federal slavery code and both sides dug in. A reporter noted:
“The house was in an uproar.A hundred delegates upon the floor and up on chairs, screaming like panthers and gesticulating like monkeys.”
When the dust settled and the Northern delegates had enough votes to kill the slavery platform, the Southern delegation walked out en masse.
That left the convention without enough delegates to nominate Stephen Douglas and the convention was abandonded. Seven weeks later the Northern Dems nominated Douglas and the Southern Dems held their own convention and nominated pro-slavery John C. Breckinridge. With two Democrats on the ballot, Abraham Lincoln won an easy victory, but histroy shows the dust never really settled and the South seceded from the union before the inauguration.
3. 1912 - Republicans Battle For the Lord! -- Even Back Then
Theodore Roosevelt left office in 1909 and passed the torch to fellow Republican William Taft, but soon Roosevelt regretted the endorsement as he had soured on Taft's conservative, pro-business policies. Roosevelt was determined to take back his seat in office.
Roosevelt formed a progressive wing and trounced Taft in the primaries, but Taft controlled the Republican National Committee and stacked the convention with his own delegates. Not to be outdone, Roosevelt led his forces to Chicago in person, breaking the precedent that candidates not attend the national convention, and in a blistering speech demanded sixty to eighty lawfully elected delegates be added to his total. He ended his speech with this:
"Fearless of the future; unheeding of our individual fates; with unflinching hearts and undimmed eyes; we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord!"
There were other similarities to our modern day counterparts as well. Shouts of "liar" (
that's where Joe Wilson from South Carolina got the idea!) and "steamroller" were heard as well as the two in contention for the party's nomination trading unusual barbs such as "puzzlewit" and "honeyfugler" (wouldn't Palin be proud?).
In the end, Roosevelt ran as a third party candidate and the only "steamrolling" was done by Democrat Woodrow Wilson who won handily.
4. None of the Above - The 1880 Republican Convention
At their 1880 convention in Chicago, the Republicans had to choose from the three primary front runners who were Ulysses S. Grant, who had left office for one term and was running for a second term; Maine Senator James G. Blaine and an unpopular John Sherman whose biggest supporter was the charismatic James A. Garfield.
One full day of voting later, it was clear that none of the candidates could win so the delegates searched for a compromise in Garfield who continued to pledge his support for Sherman and tried in vain to have his name removed. On the 36th ballot James A. Garfield was awarded the nomination for president with Chester A. Arthur as vice-president. Upon the victory a reporter described Garfield as "pale as death" and "half-unconscious" which can now be seen as somewhat prophetic.
Garfield won the election and was shot by a disgruntled officer seeker, Charles Guiteau less than 4 months after taking office. Garfield did not die as a result of the bullet, but eleven weeks later as a result of an infection from various doctors probing around to remove the bullet.
UPDATE: This week, MOT's founding father, eeff will be attending the convention. He will be posting Special Edition Convention MOT photo diaries most of the week
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