1916 Republican National Convention

1916 Republican National Convention

1916 presidential election
Nominees Hughes and Fairbanks
Convention
Date(s)	June 7–10, 1916
City	Chicago, Illinois
Venue	Chicago Coliseum[1]
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Charles E. Hughes of New York
Vice presidential nominee	Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana
‹ 1912  ·  1920 ›

The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago from June 7 to June 10. A major goal of the party's bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the 1912 presidential campaign. In that year, Theodore Roosevelt bolted the GOP and formed his own political party, the Progressive Party, which contained most of the GOP's liberals. William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, won the nomination of the regular Republican Party. This split in the GOP ranks divided the Republican vote and led to the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Although several candidates were openly competing for the 1916 nomination—most prominently conservative Senator Elihu Root of New York, Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts, and liberal Senator Albert Cummins of Iowa—the party's bosses wanted a moderate who would be acceptable to all factions of the party. They turned to Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, who had served on the court since 1910 and thus had the advantage of not having publicly spoken about political issues in six years. Although he had not sought the nomination, Hughes made it known that he would not turn it down; he won the presidential nomination on the third ballot. Former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks was nominated as his running mate. Hughes is the only Supreme Court Justice to be nominated for president by a major political party. Fairbanks is the last former vice president, to be nominated for vice president.

Then-Senator Warren G. Harding is credited with coining the phrase "Founding Fathers" during his keynote address.

Presidential candidates[]

At the start, Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes was widely seen as the favorite due to his ability to unite the party, though the nomination of a dark horse candidate such as Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge or General Leonard Wood seemed possible.^[2] Many Republicans sought to nominate a candidate palatable to Theodore Roosevelt in hopes of averting another third-party run by progressive Republicans, though these Republicans were unwilling to nominate Roosevelt himself.^[2] Roosevelt's influence put a stop to the potential presidential candidacies of former Ohio Representative Theodore E. Burton and Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding.^[2] Former Vice President Charles Fairbanks made a run at the presidency and attempted to curry Roosevelt's support, but Roosevelt refused to support Fairbanks.^[3] Hughes won the nomination on the third ballot, and Roosevelt chose to forgo a third-party bid.

• 

  Associate Justice
  Charles Evans Hughes
  of New York
• 

  Former Senator
  Elihu Root
  of New York
• 

  Former Vice President
  Charles W. Fairbanks
  of Indiana
• 

  Senator
  Albert B. Cummins
  of Iowa
• 

  Former Representative
  Theodore E. Burton
  of Ohio
• 

  Senator
  Robert M. La Follette
  of Wisconsin
• 

  T. Coleman du Pont
  of Delaware

Withdrew during balloting[]

• 

  Senator
  John W. Weeks
  of Massachusetts
• 

  Former President
  Theodore Roosevelt
  of New York
• 

  Senator
  Lawrence Y. Sherman
  of Illinois
• 

  Governor
  Martin G. Brumbaugh
  of Pennsylvania

Balloting results[]

There were three ballots:

Ballot	1	2	3
Charles Evans Hughes	253.5	328.5	949.5
John W. Weeks	105	79	3
Elihu Root	103	98.5	0
Charles W. Fairbanks	74.5	88.5	0
Albert B. Cummins	85	85	0
Theodore Roosevelt	65	81	18.5
Theodore E. Burton	77.5	76.5	0
Lawrence Yates Sherman	66	65	0
Philander C. Knox	36	36	0
Henry Ford	32	0	0
Martin Grove Brumbaugh	29	0	0
Robert M. La Follette	25	25	3
William Howard Taft	14	0	0
T. Coleman du Pont	12	13	5
Henry Cabot Lodge	0	0	7
John Wanamaker	0	5	0
Frank B. Willis	4	1	0
William Borah	2	0	0
Warren G. Harding	0	1	0
Samuel W. McCall	1	1	0
Leonard Wood	0	1	0
Absent	2.5	2	1

^[4]

Vice Presidential candidates[]

Former Vice President Charles Fairbanks had no interest in serving another term as vice president, but when the party nominated him, he accepted the nomination.^[5]

• 

  Former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana

• 

  Former Senator
  Elmer E. Burkett of Nebraska

Balloting results[]

Ballot	1st
Charles W. Fairbanks	863
Elmer E. Burkett	108
William E. Borah	8
William G Webster	2
Theodore E. Burton	1
Hiram W. Johnson	1
Absent	4

Coinciding women's suffrage conventions in Chicago[]

Coinciding with the Democratic convention, both the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and the National American Woman Suffrage Association held conventions in Chicago.^[6]

See also[]

• History of the United States Republican Party
• List of Republican National Conventions
• U.S. presidential nomination convention
• Republican Party presidential primaries, 1916
• 1916 United States presidential election
• 1916 Democratic National Convention

References[]

Bibliography[]

External links[]

• Republican Party platform of 1916 at The American Presidency Project
• http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/R/1916/index.html

Preceded by 1912 Chicago, Illinois

Republican National Conventions

Succeeded by 1920 Chicago, Illinois