Democratic Party nomination The Democrats convened in Chicago on July 8–11, 1884, with New York Governor Grover Cleveland as clear frontrunner, the candidate of northern reformers and sound-money men (as opposed to inflationists). Although
Tammany Hall bitterly opposed his nomination, the machine represented a minority of the New York delegation. Its only chance to block Cleveland was to break the unit rule, which mandated that the votes of an entire delegation be cast for only one candidate, and this it failed to do.
Daniel N. Lockwood from New York placed Cleveland's name in nomination. But this rather lackluster address was eclipsed by the seconding speech of
Edward S. Bragg from Wisconsin, who roused the delegates with a memorable slap at Tammany. "They love him, gentlemen," Bragg said of Cleveland, "and they respect him, not only for himself, for his character, for his integrity and judgment and iron will, but they love him most of all for the enemies he has made." As the convention rocked with cheers, Tammany boss
John Kelly lunged at the platform, screaming that he welcomed the compliment. On the first ballot, Cleveland led the field with 392 votes, more than 150 votes short of the nomination. Trailing him were
Thomas F. Bayard from Delaware, 170;
Allen G. Thurman from Ohio, 88;
Samuel J. Randall from Pennsylvania, 78; and
Joseph E. McDonald from Indiana, 56; with the rest scattered. Randall then withdrew in Cleveland's favor. This move, together with the Southern bloc scrambling aboard the Cleveland bandwagon, was enough to put him over the top of the second ballot, with 683 votes to 81.5 for Bayard and 45.5 for
Thomas A. Hendricks from Indiana. Hendricks was nominated unanimously for vice president on the first ballot after
John C. Black,
William Rosecrans, and
George Washington Glick withdrew their names from consideration.
Republican Party nomination , the incumbent president in 1884, whose partial term expired on March 4, 1885 The
1884 Republican National Convention was held in
Chicago, Illinois, on June 3–6, with former Secretary of State James G. Blaine from Maine,
President Arthur, and Senator
George F. Edmunds from Vermont as the frontrunners. Though he was still popular, Arthur did not make a serious bid for a full-term nomination, knowing that his increasing health problems meant he would probably not survive a second term (he ultimately died in November 1886). Blaine led on the first ballot, with Arthur second, and Edmunds third. This order did not change on successive ballots as Blaine increased his lead, and he won a majority on the fourth ballot. After nominating Blaine, the convention chose Senator
John A. Logan from Illinois as the vice-presidential nominee. Blaine remains the only presidential nominee ever to come from Maine. Famed
Civil War general
William Tecumseh Sherman was considered a possible Republican candidate, but ruled himself out with what has become known as the
Sherman pledge: "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve."
Robert Todd Lincoln,
Secretary of War of the United States, and son of the past President
Abraham Lincoln, was also strongly courted by politicians and the media of the day to seek the presidential or vice-presidential nomination, but Lincoln was as averse to the nomination as Sherman.
Other parties and candidates Anti-Monopoly Party nomination Anti-Monopoly candidates: File:Bfbutler.jpg| File:AllenGThurman.png| File:James Weaver - Brady-Handy (cropped).jpg| The
Anti-Monopoly National Convention assembled in the Hershey Music Hall in Chicago, Illinois on May 14. The party had been formed to express opposition to the business practices of the emerging nationwide companies. There were around 200 delegates from 16 states, but 61 of them were from Michigan and Illinois.
Alson Streeter was the temporary chairman and John F. Henry was the permanent chairman.
Benjamin Butler was nominated for president on the first ballot. Delegates from New York, Washington, D.C., and Maryland bolted the convention when it appeared that no discussion of other candidates would be allowed.
Allen G. Thurman and
James B. Weaver were put forward as alternatives to Butler, but Weaver declined, not wishing to run another national campaign for political office, and Thurman generated little enthusiasm. Butler, while far from opposed to the nomination, hoped to be nominated by the Democratic or Republican party, or at least in the case of the former, to make its platform more favorable to greenbacks. Ultimately only the
Greenback Party endorsed his candidacy. The convention chose not to nominate a candidate for vice president, hoping that other conventions would endorse a similar platform and name a suitable vice-presidential nominee. The committee ultimately nominated
Absolom Madden West as their vice-presidential candidate.
American Prohibition Party nomination File:Samuel C. Pomeroy - Brady-Handy.jpg| The American Prohibition Party held its national convention in the YMCA building in Chicago, Illinois. There were 150 delegates, including many non-voting delegates. The party sought to merge the reform movements of
anti-masonry,
prohibition,
anti-polygamy, and direct election of the president into a new party.
Jonathan Blanchard was a major figure within the party. He traveled throughout northern states in the spring and gave an address entitled "The American Party – Its Principles and Its Claims." During the convention, the party name was changed from the American Party to the American Prohibition Party. The party had been known as the
Anti-Masonic Party in 1880. Many of the delegates at the convention were initially interested in nominating
John St. John, the former governor of Kansas, but it was feared that such a nomination might cost him that of the Prohibition Party, which he was actively seeking. Party leaders met with
Samuel C. Pomeroy, a former senator from the same state who was the convention's runner-up for the nomination, and at Pomeroy's suggestion they agreed to withdraw the ticket from the race should St. John win the Prohibition Party nomination. Nominated alongside Pomeroy was John A. Conant from Connecticut. St. John later unanimously won the Prohibition Party nomination, with Pomeroy and Conant withdrawing from the presidential contest and endorsing him. The
New York Times speculated that the endorsement would "give him 40,000 votes".
Prohibition Party nomination File:John St John 1880.jpg| The fourth Prohibition Party National Convention assembled in Lafayette Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There were 505 delegates from 31 states and territories at the convention. The national ticket was nominated unanimously: John St. John for president and
William Daniel for vice president. The straightforward single-issue
Prohibition Party platform advocated the criminalization of
alcoholic beverages. ==General election==