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1964 Republican National Convention

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1964 Republican National Convention
1964 presidential election
Nominees
Goldwater and Miller
Convention
Date(s)July 13–16, 1964
CityDaly City, California
VenueCow Palace
ChairThruston Ballard Morton
Notable speakersRichard M. Nixon
Nelson Rockefeller
Candidates
Presidential nomineeBarry Goldwater of Arizona
Vice-presidential nomineeWilliam E. Miller of New York
Other candidatesNelson Rockefeller
William Scranton
Voting
Total delegates1,308
Votes needed for nomination655
Results (president)Goldwater (AZ): 883 (67.50%)
Scranton (PA): 214 (16.36%)
Rockefeller (NY): 114 (8.72%)
Results (vice president)Miller (NY): 100% (Roll call)
Ballots1
‹ 1960 · 1968 ›

The 1964 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Convention, which also took place in the Cow Palace. Many believed that a convention at San Francisco indicated the rising power of the Republican party in the west.[1]

Political context

The Republican primaries of 1964 featured liberal Nelson Rockefeller of New York and conservative Barry Goldwater of Arizona as the two leading candidates. Shortly before the California primary, Rockefeller's wife, whom he had just married the previous year soon after divorcing his previous wife, gave birth; this drew renewed attention to his family life which hurt his popularity among conservatives and helped Goldwater win the primary.[citation needed] An anti-Goldwater organization called for the nomination of former Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania, but the effort failed. Although former President Dwight Eisenhower only reluctantly supported Goldwater after he won the nomination, former President Herbert Hoover gave him enthusiastic endorsement. By the end of the primaries, Goldwater's nomination was secure.

Senator Margaret Chase Smith's name was entered for nomination at the Convention, the first time a woman's name was entered for nomination at a major party convention.

The convention

Governor Mark Hatfield appears before the convention in the Cow Palace

The Republican National Convention of 1964 was a tension-filled contest. Goldwater's conservatives were openly clashing with Rockefeller's moderates. Goldwater was regarded as the "conservatives' leading spokesman."[2] As a result, Goldwater was not as popular with the moderates and liberals of the Republican Party.[3][4] When Rockefeller attempted to deliver a speech, he was booed by the convention's conservative delegates, who regarded him as a member of the "eastern liberal establishment." Despite the infighting, Goldwater was easily nominated. He chose William E. Miller, a Representative from New York, as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, he declared communism as a "principal disturber of the peace in the world today" and said, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Some people, including those within his own campaign staff, believed this weakened Goldwater's chances, as he effectively severed ties with the moderates and liberals of the Republican Party.[5]

Former vice president and GOP presidential nominee (and future President) Richard Nixon introduced the Arizonan as "Mr. Conservative" and "Mr. Republican" and he continued that "he is the man who, after the greatest campaign in history, will be Mr. President — Barry Goldwater".[6]

According to Emmy award-winning television journalist, Belva Davis, she and another black reporter were chased out of the convention by attendees yelling racial slurs.[7]

Platform

A Platform Committee meeting held ahead of the convention in on July 9

The 1964 Republican Platform was dominated by Goldwater conservatives, which meant the platform was dominated by calls for limited government, condemnations of the Kennedy and Johnson foreign and domestic policy, calls for more open space for free enterprise, a hard-line against Communist North Vietnam, calls for reform of the United Nations, a staunch support of NATO, calls for lower taxes, a hard line against international Communism, and an accusation that the Kennedy Administration was guilty of Munich-like appeasement for having opened a hotline with the Soviet Union and not with American allies.[8]

Candidates for the nomination

Balloting

The roll call vote of the states was as follows, as reported by the New York Times:

State
Goldwater
Alabama 20
Alaska 8 2 1 1
Arizona 16
Arkansas 9 2 1
California 86
Colorado 15 3
Connecticut 4 12
Delaware 7 5
Florida 32 2
Georgia 22 2
Hawaii 4 4
Idaho 14
Illinois 56 2
Indiana 21
Iowa 14 10
Kansas 18 1 1
Kentucky 21 3
Louisiana 20
Maine 14
Maryland 6 13 1
Massachusetts 5 26 1 2
Michigan 8 40
Minnesota 8 18
Mississippi 13
Missouri 23 1
Montana 14
Nebraska 16
Nevada 6
New Hampshire 14
New Jersey 20 20
New Mexico 14
New York 5 87
North Carolina 26
North Dakota 7 1 3 3
Ohio 57 1
Oklahoma 22
Oregon 18
Pennsylvania 4 60
Rhode Island 3 11
South Carolina 16
South Dakota 12 2
Tennessee 28
Texas 56
Utah 14
Vermont 3 2 2 5
Virginia 29 1
Washington 22 1 1
West Virginia 10 2 2
Wisconsin 30
Wyoming 12
District of Columbia 4 5
Puerto Rico 5
U.S. Virgin Islands 3
Total 883 214 114 41 27 22 5 2

Presidential

Vice Presidential

William E. Miller, a Representative from Western New York who had served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee since 1961, was nominated unanimously on a roll call vote. Goldwater stated that he chose Miller to be his running mate simply because "he drives Johnson nuts" with his Republican activism.[9] But by some other accounts, Johnson "was barely aware of Miller's existence." Miller's Eastern roots and Catholic faith balanced the ticket in some ways, however ideologically he was conservative like Goldwater. His relative obscurity—"he was better known for snipes at President Kennedy than for anything else"—gave birth to the refrain "Here's a riddle, it's a killer / Who the hell is William Miller?"[9]

He was replaced as Chairman of the RNC by Dean Burch, a Goldwater loyalist from Arizona.

See also

References

  1. ^ Shadegg, Stephen (1965). What Happened to Goldwater? The Inside Story of the 1964 Republican Campaign. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 134.
  2. ^ The New York Times Election Handbook 1964. New York: McGraw Hill. 1964. p. 65.
  3. ^ Epstein, Leon D.; Ranney, Austin (1966). "Who Voted for Goldwater: The Wisconsin Case". Political Science Quarterly. 81 (1): 82–94 [p. 85]. JSTOR 2146862.
  4. ^ Mattar, Edward Paul (1964). Barry Goldwater: A Political Indictment. Minneapolis: Century Twenty One Unlimited. pp. 84–7.
  5. ^ White, Clifton F. (1967). Suite 3505: The Story of the Draft Goldwater Movement. New Rochelle: Arlington House. p. 15.
  6. ^ Conservatives Re-Take the R... on YouTube[dead link‍]
  7. ^ Rutland, Ginger (February 19, 2012). "The Reading Rack". Sacramento Bee. p. E3. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  8. ^ "Republican Party Platforms: Republican Party Platform of 1964". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b Perlstein, Rick (2002). Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. p. 389 – via Google Books.
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Preceded by
1960
Chicago, Illinois 		Republican National Conventions Succeeded by
1968
Miami Beach, Florida
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