1884 Republican National Convention
The 1884 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Chicago, on June 3–6, 1884.[1] It resulted in the nomination of former House Speaker James G. Blaine from Maine for president and Senator John A. Logan of Illinois for vice president. The ticket lost in the election of 1884 to Democrats Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks.
Convention
June 3–6, 1884
Exposition Hall
832
417
4
In attendance were 1600 delegates and alternates and 6000 spectators.[1] There were 820 official delegates; 411 votes were needed to win the nomination.[2] The incumbent president, Chester A. Arthur, was not a serious contender due to ill health. Blaine was the favorite going in, but there was a possibility that President Arthur could build a coalition with smaller candidates such as George F. Edmunds.[1] There were also rumors that members of the party would bolt if Blaine won the nomination.[3] Neither Blaine nor Arthur were in attendance. Blaine was at his home in Augusta, Maine, and Arthur followed the events from the White House by telegraphy.[4]
Pre-balloting maneuvers[edit]
To test the waters, Blaine supporters nominated Powell Clayton as temporary chair of the Convention. A former Arthur supporter, Clayton was now in Blaine's camp. He was popular with veterans, but was also associated with the Star Route Frauds. Edmunds's supporters, led by Henry C. Lodge, moved to nominate John R. Lynch instead, an African-American from Mississippi. The speech supporting Lynch was given by Theodore Roosevelt. Lynch won the vote 424 to 384, and Blaine's nomination seemed for the first time vulnerable.[1]
Blaine's future seemed more vulnerable the next day when, to address the rumors of party members bolting, his supporters made a motion to remove seats of delegates who failed to pledge support of the eventual nominee. The motion failed, again by the fortitude of Edmunds's supporters.[3] The day closed with John B. Henderson being elected permanent chair of the convention.[3]
That evening leaders of Arthur's and Edmunds's camps met in private in the Grand Pacific Hotel and tried to create a viable coalition. Arthur's team could not guarantee that his supporters would back Edmunds. It was more likely that the second choice of Arthur delegates was Blaine.[3]
