1956 Republican National Convention


The 1956 Republican National Convention was held by the Republican Party of the United States at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, from August 20 to August 23, 1956. U.S. Senator William F. Knowland was temporary chairman and former speaker of the House Joseph W. Martin Jr. served as permanent chairman. It renominated President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard M. Nixon as the party's candidates for the 1956 presidential election.
On August 23, 1956, singer Nat King Cole spoke at the Republican Convention.

Convention scheduling

The 1956 Republican convention was held after that year's Democratic National Convention. This was unusual, as since 1864, in every election but 1888, Democrats had held their convention second. It has become an informal tradition that the party holding the White House hosts their convention second, but it is unclear when this tradition began.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

President Eisenhower was unanimously re-nominated by the Republican delegates for President of the United States.


'''Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention '''

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Eisenhower had considered other running mates, but with his health a concern, he ultimately decided that Vice President Richard Nixon was best prepared to assume the presidency. By the time of the convention, a unanimous renomination for Nixon was expected until one renegade delegate, former Democratic Congressman and perennial candidate Terry Carpenter, decided to place in nomination for vice president a man named Joe Smith, from Carpenter's own Terrytown, Nebraska. When asked who Joe Smith was at the 1956 convention, Carpenter mysteriously replied, "Oh, he is a symbol of an open convention, in that sense of the word." It was eventually revealed that there was no such man, and that his nomination was a protest against the perceived political theater of the closed 1956 Republican National Convention. Carpenter ultimately did cast his one dissenting vote for vice president for Joe Smith.


'''Vice Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention '''