Republican National Convention Records

The 1960 Republican National Convention took place July 25-28 in Chicago’s International Amphitheatre. It was the 100th anniversary of the 1860 Convention, also in Chicago, that selected Abraham Lincoln as the Republican presidential candidate. In 1960, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower was finishing his second term in office, and so he could not run for reelection. The Democratic National Convention had happened a few weeks earlier, choosing John F. Kennedy, a Senator from Massachusetts, as the Democratic nominee for president. The Republican National Convention met to select his Republican opponent.

Vice President Richard Nixon was the leading favorite for the nomination, but a few challenges existed. Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater represented the right wing of the Republican Party, and he was running against Nixon for the nomination. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller represented the left wing of the Republican Party, and though he had withdrawn from the race the preceding December, in the weeks leading up to the Convention, he made his displeasure with the platform known, hinting at leading a challenge from the Convention floor.

In an effort to circumvent this challenge, as well as to gain the support of more liberal Republicans, Vice President Nixon secretly flew to New York on July 23 to meet with Rockefeller. The two met in Rockefeller’s 5th Avenue home and discussed the party platform all night. Nixon agreed to adopt many of Rockefeller’s planks in exchange for Rockefeller’s support. The published statement describing the platform was released under Rockefeller’s name; Nixon issued a statement of support.

This clandestine meeting did not sit well with the Convention Platform Committee or with Goldwater. Ultimately, though, it was successful in unifying the Party during the Convention, and Nixon handily won the nomination. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., a former Senator from Massachusetts and then ambassador to the United Nations, was chosen to be his running mate. Nixon went on to lose the presidential election to John F. Kennedy in November of that year. Nixon was later elected president in 1968 and again in 1972. He resigned mid-term in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.