Presidential Nominating Conventions, and the Parties Who Love Them

During which national political convention did the phrase “smoke-filled room” originate?

Four years later, which party took 103 ballots before deciding on a presidential nominee?

Who was the first nominee to fly to a convention city and set a precedent by accepting a nomination in person?

In which year was one party’s convention so chaotic that the presidential nominee gave an acceptance speech in the middle of the night, while the other party’s convention was the first to be run strictly according to a television script?

Find out the answers to these questions, and more! In the run-up to the parties’ 2008 national conventions, I will write about the history of party conventions, and of the previous methods by which presidential candidates were chosen. Once again this year, the parties’ presidential nominees have been decided before the conventions begin. And it is anticipated that Senators Obama and McCain will have announced their vice presidential choices in advance, as well. All of that has become the norm in recent decades. But there has been significant drama at past conventions.

It seems appropriate to preface a discussion of conventions with a history of political parties in the U.S. And the place to start that discussion is with "Federalist 10", one of the series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison, advocating ratification of the Federal Constitution of 1787.

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