ghemminger
01-30-2008, 04:56 PM
1976 Republican Party Nomination
Main article: Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_ primaries%2C_1976)
The contest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1976 was between just two candidates: Gerald Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford), the incumbent President of the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States); and Ronald Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan), the popular leader of the GOP's conservative wing and the former two-term governor of California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California). The conservatives faulted Ford for the loss of South Vietnam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam) to the Communists, his negotiations to hand over the Panama Canal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal) to Panama, and for what they perceived as his failure to more aggressively confront the Soviet Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union) in the Cold War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War). Since Ford had not won a national election as either Vice-President or President, he was viewed by many political experts as being unusually vulnerable for an incumbent President, and as not having a strong nationwide base of support. As such, many conservative Republicans believed that Reagan could beat him for the nomination.
Defying expectations, however, Ford narrowly defeated Reagan in the New Hampshire primary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_primary), and then proceeded to beat Reagan in the Florida and Illinois primaries by comfortable margins. At this point Reagan's campaign ran low on money, and many pundits believed that another loss would force him to quit the race. However, Reagan upset Ford in North Carolina, and then proceeded to win a string of impressive victories, including Texas. From there the two men engaged in an increasingly bitter, nip-and-tuck battle for delegates. By the time the Republican Convention opened in August 1976, the race for the nomination was still too close to call.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg/350px-1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg)
The 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemper_Arena) in Kansas City. Vice-Presidential Candidate Bob Dole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole) is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan), Governor Ronald Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan) is at the center shaking hands with President Gerald Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford), Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller) is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Ford) and First Lady Betty Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Ford).
The 1976 Republican National Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Republican_National_Convention) was held in Kansas City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City%2C_Missouri). As the convention began Ford was seen as having a slight lead in delegate votes, but still shy of the 1130 delegates he needed to win. In a bid to woo moderate Northern Republicans, Reagan shocked the convention by announcing that if he won the nomination, Senator Richard Schweiker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Schweiker) of Pennsylvania, a moderate, would be his running mate. The move backfired, however, as few moderates switched to Reagan, while many conservative delegates were outraged. Ford defeated Reagan by a narrow margin on the first ballot.
Ford chose Senator Robert Dole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dole) of Kansas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas) as his running mate. After giving his acceptance speech, President Ford asked Reagan to come and say a few words to the convention; Reagan proceeded to give an eloquent address which virtually overshadowed Ford's speech. The 1976 Republican National Convention was the last time a presidential convention opened without the nominee having already been decided in the primaries.
Main article: Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_ primaries%2C_1976)
The contest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1976 was between just two candidates: Gerald Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford), the incumbent President of the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States); and Ronald Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan), the popular leader of the GOP's conservative wing and the former two-term governor of California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California). The conservatives faulted Ford for the loss of South Vietnam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam) to the Communists, his negotiations to hand over the Panama Canal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal) to Panama, and for what they perceived as his failure to more aggressively confront the Soviet Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union) in the Cold War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War). Since Ford had not won a national election as either Vice-President or President, he was viewed by many political experts as being unusually vulnerable for an incumbent President, and as not having a strong nationwide base of support. As such, many conservative Republicans believed that Reagan could beat him for the nomination.
Defying expectations, however, Ford narrowly defeated Reagan in the New Hampshire primary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_primary), and then proceeded to beat Reagan in the Florida and Illinois primaries by comfortable margins. At this point Reagan's campaign ran low on money, and many pundits believed that another loss would force him to quit the race. However, Reagan upset Ford in North Carolina, and then proceeded to win a string of impressive victories, including Texas. From there the two men engaged in an increasingly bitter, nip-and-tuck battle for delegates. By the time the Republican Convention opened in August 1976, the race for the nomination was still too close to call.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg/350px-1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1976_Republican_National_Convention.jpg)
The 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemper_Arena) in Kansas City. Vice-Presidential Candidate Bob Dole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole) is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan), Governor Ronald Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan) is at the center shaking hands with President Gerald Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford), Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller) is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Ford) and First Lady Betty Ford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Ford).
The 1976 Republican National Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Republican_National_Convention) was held in Kansas City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City%2C_Missouri). As the convention began Ford was seen as having a slight lead in delegate votes, but still shy of the 1130 delegates he needed to win. In a bid to woo moderate Northern Republicans, Reagan shocked the convention by announcing that if he won the nomination, Senator Richard Schweiker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Schweiker) of Pennsylvania, a moderate, would be his running mate. The move backfired, however, as few moderates switched to Reagan, while many conservative delegates were outraged. Ford defeated Reagan by a narrow margin on the first ballot.
Ford chose Senator Robert Dole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dole) of Kansas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas) as his running mate. After giving his acceptance speech, President Ford asked Reagan to come and say a few words to the convention; Reagan proceeded to give an eloquent address which virtually overshadowed Ford's speech. The 1976 Republican National Convention was the last time a presidential convention opened without the nominee having already been decided in the primaries.