Democrats Nominate James Cox For President, FDR for Vice President
The Democratic National Convention in progress in San Francisco.
July 6 1920, San Francisco--A few weeks after the Republicans’, the Democrats convened their national convention in San Francisco on June 28. Just like the Republicans, the Democrats had no clear nominee going into the convention, and had three major contenders. The first was William McAdoo, Wilson’s Treasury Secretary until December 1918, and also his son-in-law from May 1914. The second was Wilson’s Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, who had tried to make a name for himself as a crusader against anarchists and Bolsheviks after his house was bombed by an anarchist in June 1919. The Palmer Raids of November 1919 and January 1920 arrested thousands of suspected anarchists and communists, and deported over 500 of them, among them Emma Goldman. Palmer’s star had faded somewhat since his prognostications (informed by intelligence from J. Edgar Hoover) of attacks and unrest on May Day 1920 proved to be unfounded. The third was James Cox, the Governor of Ohio. Also running were New York Governor Al Smith (who would receive the 1928 nomination), Ambassador to the UK John W. Davis (who would receive the 1924 nomination), along with other hopefuls and favorite sons.
Not directly running, but waiting in the wings, were two giants of the Democratic Party. William Jennings Bryan hoped to be nominated for a fourth time, and President Wilson believed that an unprecedented third term could be necessary to secure America’s entry into the League of Nations, despite all evidence to the contrary and his continuing infirmity since his stroke. While Wilson did not enter the race directly, his refusal to rule himself out left his son-in-law, McAdoo, in an awkward position, thus preventing McAdoo from taking active steps to secure the nomination.
Bryan attempted to lead a fight for the platform, but was repeatedly checked. A proposed plank to adopt the Treaty of Versailles with reservations, along with a Constitutional amendment to reduce the necessary Senate vote for treaty ratification to a simple majority, was rejected; the delegates were loyal to Wilson’s position on this matter. Another proposal, a “bone-dry” plank on Prohibition (which had already been in force since January), was similarly defeated.
The balloting for the Presidential nomination began on July 2. After the second ballot, McAdoo led with 289 votes (out of a total of 1097), with Palmer close behind with 264, followed by Cox with 149 and Al Smith with 101 (90 of which were from New York). As the Democrats required a two-thirds majority to pick a nominee, no candidate was even close. Another twenty ballots were held on July 3. Cox had a major surge on the seventh ballot as Smith and other favorite sons dropped out of contention and many New York and New Jersey delegates switched to him; the totals were then 384 McAdoo, 295.5 Cox, and 267 Palmer. On the twelfth ballot, Cox took the overall lead (404-375.5-201), but hit a peak of 468.5 delegates on the 15th ballot and made no additional progress until the convention recessed just before midnight after the 22nd ballot.
Wilson’s man at the convention, Secretary of State Colby (Lansing having been sacked in February for supposed disloyalty), hoped the deadlock would lead to an opportunity for Wilson, who was still beloved among the delegates in San Francisco. At the right moment, a motion to suspend the rules and nominate Wilson by acclamation might just pass. He had been warned off such a plan by DNC leadership, but after 22 ballots thought the opportunity might soon present itself. A journalist warned Wilson’s private secretary, Joe Tumulty, however. Tumulty, who had been busy hiding the President’s condition since October, was decidedly opposed to his renomination, and warned Edith Wilson that such a motion was unlikely to succeed and that the President would be humiliated and perhaps blamed for the deadlocked convention. Colby backed down, and the balloting resumed on July 5. McAdoo retook the lead on the 30th ballot, and still held it when the convention recessed briefly after the 36th ballot.
After the 38th ballot, Palmer released his delegates and Cox once again had the lead. However, it still took until the 43rd ballot for Cox to secure a majority, and then finally on the 44th ballot Cox, at 1:39 AM on July 6, was nominated by acclamation once it was clear he had secured two-thirds support. The next morning, after Cox was consulted, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt was chosen as the Vice Presidential nominee. Charismatic, young (this was several years before his polio), from the critical state of New York, and with an ideal last name, Roosevelt was quickly approved by an exhausted convention.
Sources include: Patricia O’Toole, The Moralist.
