1912 Democratic National Convention - The Convention - Presidential Candidates - Declined

Declined

  • Governor John Burke of North Dakota

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.

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. 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. Bryan's endorsement of Wilson influenced many other delegates, and Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the presidential nomination on the 46th ballot.

The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860.

(1-24) Presidential Ballot
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th
Woodrow Wilson 324 339.75 345 349.5 351 354 352.5 351.5 352.5 350.5 354.5 354 356 361 362.5 362.5 362.5 361 358 388.5 395.5 396.5 399 402.5
Champ Clark 440.5 446.5 441 443 443 445 449.5 448.5 452 556 554 547.5 554.5 553 552 551 545 535 532 512 508 500.5 497.5 496
Judson Harmon 148 141 140.5 136.5 141.5 135 129.5 130 127 31 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 0 0 0
Oscar Underwood 117.5 111.25 114.5 112 119.5 121 123.5 123 122.5 117.5 118.5 123 115.5 111 110.5 112.5 112.5 125 130 121.5 118.5 115 114.5 115.5
Eugene Foss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 43 45 43
Thomas R. Marshall 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30
Simeon E. Baldwin 22 14 14 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
William J. Bryan 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 7 1 1 1 1 1
John W. Kern 0 0 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 2 4.5 3.5 1 1 1 1 0 0
Ollie M. James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
William Sulzer 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
William J. Gaynor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
J. Hamilton Lewis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blank 2 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.5 0 0 0 0 3.5 3.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
(25-46) Presidential Ballot
25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th 38th 39th 40th 41st 42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th Unanimous
Woodrow Wilson 405 407.5 406.5 437.5 436 460 475.5 477.5 477.5 479.5 494.5 496.5 496.5 498.5 501.5 501.5 499.5 494 602 629 633 990 1,088
Champ Clark 469 463.5 469 468.5 468.5 455 446.5 446.5 447.5 447.5 433.5 434.5 432.5 425 422 423 424 430 329 306 306 84
Judson Harmon 29 29 29 29 29 19 17 14 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 28 27 27 28 27 25 12
Oscar Underwood 108 112.5 112 112.5 112 121.5 116.5 119.5 103.5 101.5 101.5 98.5 100.5 106 106 106 106 104 98.5 99 97 0
Eugene Foss 43 43 38 38 38 30 30 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 27 27 27 0
Thomas R. Marshall 30 30 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Simeon E. Baldwin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
William J. Bryan 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.5 1 0 0 0
John W. Kern 0 0 0 1 4 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Ollie M. James 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
William Sulzer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
William J. Gaynor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
J. Hamilton Lewis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Blank 0 1.5 2.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 0 0 2

Read more about this topic:  1912 Democratic National Convention, The Convention, Presidential Candidates

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