The convention was held at the
Fifth Regiment Armory in
Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. It proved to be one of the more memorable United States presidential conventions of the 20th century.
1904 presidential nominee Judge
Alton B. Parker of
New York served as the Temporary chairman and Keynote Speaker while
Representative Ollie M. James of
Kentucky served as Permanent Convention chairman. , this is the last major party convention to be held in Baltimore.
Presidential candidates Image:Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg|
Governor Woodrow Wilson of
New Jersey Image:ChampClark.png|
Speaker of the House Champ Clark of
Missouri Image:JudsonHarmonLOC.jpg|
Governor Judson Harmon of
Ohio Image:Thomas Riley Marshall headshot.jpg|
Governor Thomas R. Marshall of
Indiana Image:Simeon E. Baldwin, 1910.png|
Governor Simeon E. Baldwin of
Connecticut ,
Roger Charles Sullivan,
Norman E. Mack,
Edwin Orin Wood, and
Robert Crain at the convention
Withdrew during balloting Image:Oscar W. Underwood.jpg|
House Majority Leader Oscar Underwood of
Alabama Image:Governor Foss.png|
Governor Eugene Foss of
Massachusetts Declined Image:JohnBurke1908.png|
Governor John Burke of
North Dakota at the convention. His father, Champ Clark, initially appeared to be the frontrunner for the nomination. attending the convention. Bryan's speech against Champ Clark and endorsement of Woodrow Wilson would ultimately affect the outcome of the nomination. The main candidates were
House Speaker Champ Clark of
Missouri and
Governor Woodrow Wilson of
New Jersey. Both Clark and Wilson had won a number of primaries, and Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson. However, he lacked the two-thirds vote necessary to secure the presidential nomination. Initially, the front runner appeared to be Clark, who received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor
Judson Harmon of
Ohio received 148 votes while U.S. Representative
Oscar W. Underwood of
Alabama, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among the other delegates. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the
New York delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. Due to the then-official
two-thirds rule used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the presidential nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory.
C. Vann Woodward stated that the 1912 Democratic nomination was "the first in half a century in which the South played a conspicuous and perhaps even decisive part".
Earl Black and
Merle Black stated that Underwood was the first southerner following the Civil War to seriously seek the Democratic nomination. Clark was able to gain a majority of the delegate vote, but lacked support in the south which prevented him from passing the two-thirds requirement. In past conventions, once a candidate received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination. Clark's chances were hurt when
Tammany Hall, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City, threw its support behind him. This was the move that gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, but instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led
William Jennings Bryan to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "
Wall Street". Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once the corrupt machine put itself behind Clark, he threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer. Additionally Illinois Democratic Boss,
Roger Charles Sullivan and Indiana Democratic Boss
Thomas Taggart made a deal with a member of Wilson's campaign. In exchange for having
Thomas R. Marshall be Wilson's running mate, Illinois and Indiana would put their support behind Wilson. Before these events, Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. After receiving the support of Bryan, Sullivan, and Taggart, Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the presidential nomination on the 46th ballot.
Presidential balloting The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860.
Presidential balloting / 3rd day of Convention (June 27) File:1912_DNC_Ballot_1.svg|1st Ballot
Presidential balloting / 4th day of Convention (June 28) File:1912_DNC_Ballot_2.svg|2nd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_3.svg|3rd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_4.svg|4th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_5.svg|5th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_6.svg|6th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_7.svg|7th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_8.svg|8th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_9.svg|9th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_10.svg|10th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_11.svg|11th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_12.svg|12th Ballot
Presidential balloting / 5th day of Convention (June 29) File:1912_DNC_Ballot_13.svg|13th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_14.svg|14th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_15.svg|15th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_16.svg|16th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_17.svg|17th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_18.svg|18th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_19.svg|19th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_20.svg|20th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_21.svg|21st Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_22.svg|22nd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_23.svg|23rd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_24.svg|24th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_25.svg|25th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_26.svg|26th Ballot
Presidential balloting / 6th day of Convention (July 1) File:1912_DNC_Ballot_27.svg|27th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_28.svg|28th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_29.svg|29th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_30.svg|30th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_31.svg|31st Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_32.svg|32nd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_33.svg|33rd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_34.svg|34th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_35.svg|35th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_36.svg|36th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_37.svg|37th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_38.svg|38th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_39.svg|39th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_40.svg|40th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_41.svg|41st Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_42.svg|42nd Ballot
Presidential balloting / 7th day of Convention (July 2) File:1912_DNC_Ballot_43.svg|43rd Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_44.svg|44th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_45.svg|45th Ballot File:1912_DNC_Ballot_46.svg|46th Ballot
Vice presidential candidates Image:Thomas Riley Marshall headshot.jpg|
Governor Thomas R. Marshall of
Indiana Image:George E Chamberlain 2.jpg|
Senator George E. Chamberlain of
Oregon Image:Elmore W. Hurst LC-DIG-ggbain-12725.jpg|Former
State Representative Elmore W. Hurst of
Illinois Withdrew during balloting Image:JohnBurke1908.png|
Governor John Burke of
North Dakota Image:James H. Preston.jpg|
Mayor James H. Preston of
Maryland Declined Image:ChampClark.png|
Speaker of the House Champ Clark of
Missouri Image:Martin Wade (cropped).jpg|Former
Representative Martin J. Wade of
Iowa Image:William Jennings Bryan, 1860-1925.jpg|Former
Representative William Jennings Bryan of
Nebraska Clark and Bryan were both proposed as vice presidential nominees, but both declined, with Clark preferring to remain as Speaker and Bryan fearful of overshadowing Wilson. Bryan instead proposed Oregon Senator
George E. Chamberlain and North Dakota Governor
John Burke, the latter of whom became the main progressive candidate.
Governor Thomas R. Marshall of
Indiana, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, became the major candidate of conservatives. After the second ballot, Representative
William Hughes, a leading campaign manager of Wilson's, successfully proposed making the nomination of Marshall unanimous. Wilson and Marshall went on to win the
1912 presidential election against a split
Republican Party. speaks to a crowd at a notification ceremony in
Indianapolis after receiving news of his nomination
Vice presidential balloting / 7th day of Convention (July 2, 1912) File:1912DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|
1st Vice Presidential Ballot File:1912DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png|
2nd Vice Presidential Ballot ==Delegates==