1976 Republican National Convention
|
|
The 1976 Republican National Convention met at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri from August 16 to August 19. The convention nominated incumbent Gerald Ford for President, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California governor Ronald Reagan. The convention also nominated Kansas Senator Robert J. Dole for Vice President, replacing the incumbent V.P., former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The keynote address was delivered by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker.
Although Ford had won more primary delegates than Reagan, he did not have enough to secure the nomination, and both candidates arrived at the convention early to campaign for additional support. Here Reagan benefitted from his highly committeed delegates, notably "Reagan's Raiders" of the Texas delegation. They and other conservative Western and Southern delegates particularly faulted the Ford Administration's foreign policy of détente towards the Soviet Union, criticizing his signing of the Helsinki Accords and indirectly blaming him for April 1975 fall of Saigon.
The conservatives succeeded in inserting several key planks into the party platform. Reagan and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms successfully had a "moral foreign policy" plank inserted. In light of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the 1976 Republican platform became the first to advocate a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. They next sought a rules change which would have required candidates to identify their running mate before the start of balloting.
Reagan had promised, if nominated, to name liberal Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania, in a bid to attract liberals and centrists in the party. Ford, running with the unpopular Rockefeller, would have been disadvantaged. The rules change was defeated, however, and Ford went on to win the nomination narrowly, by a mere 117 votes (1187 to 1070).
Reagan endorsed Ford after his concession, and was permitted to address the convention. At his campaign's suggestion, Ford dropped Rockefeller from the ticket, naming Dole as running mate instead.
External links
- NPR's "1976: Reagan Takes on a GOP Incumbent" page (http://www.npr.org/news/national/election2000/conventions/past.reagan_ford.html)
- Gerald Ford Presidential Library's 1976 Republican Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech (http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/760733.htm)