No Organized Political Party

Last Saturday's Graphical History Tour was all about the Republican National Convention of 1924 and its mostly predetermined outcome.

"The Convention Behind the Conventions" by Robert Minor in Daily Worker, Chicago, June 7, 1924

Today, we turn to the Democratic National Convention that year, which was a completely different story. Awaiting John Pierpoint Morgan's checks are the Republican ticket of Calvin Coolidge (in front) and Charles Dawes (with pipe) as well as some of the prominent Democratic hopefuls: Sen. Carter Glass of Virginia, Sen. Sam Ralston of Indiana, Gov. Al Smith of New York, former Treasury Secretary William McAdoo lately of California, and Sen. Oscar Underwood of Alabama.

"He Loves Me.." by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. June 19, 1924

Not to be outdone, Dorman Smith records the names of all the potential candidates for Miss Democracy to choose from (yet still one petal up top blank in case of a new entry). There are too many to name all of them here, but Smith includes both William Jennings Bryan and his brother Charles, as well as 1920 nominee Cox.

"More Glimpses of Democratic Convention" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., June 26, 1924

The Democrats convened in New York City's Madison Square Garden on June 24 with no settled-upon candidate and plenty of opposing views on where the party should stand on important issues of the day. About the only thing delegates could agree on was that Calvin Coolidge and the Republican Congress should be voted out of office.

"Ever Try to Pick Up One of Those Double Handles Baskets..." by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, June 26, 1924

The Democrats were an uneasy coalition of leftist labor unions and anti-union southern conservatives; Wilsonists in favor of the League of Nations and Bryanist populists opposed to it; "Dry" proponents of Prohibition and "Wet" advocates for its repeal; and Ku Klux Klan devotees and Catholics, Jews, and other minorities threatened by it. (Black Americans were more in tune with the Republicans at this point, although, as we discovered here, increasing Klan influence in the Republican Party had just begun to change that.)

"Tempting Him" by Douglas Rodger in San Francisco Bulletin, June 26, 1924

The top two candidates stood on opposite sides of the Prohibition divide. William McAdoo promised to enforce Prohibition, whereas Al Smith had repealed New York's prohibition laws and vowed to do the same nationally.

"Something Burning" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 27, 1924

The dividing line on Prohibition was nearly identical to that on support of the Ku Klux Klan; an unknown but significant number of delegates were members of the secret society. A proposed plank in the party platform condemning the Klan was supported mostly by Smith's delegates, but it fell short of adoption after days of rancorous debate. 

"What the Well Dressed McAdoo Delegates Will Not Wear at the Convention" by Edmund Duffy in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 24, 1924

Klan support of William McAdoo was an open secret. Born in Georgia and raised in Tennessee before finding his fortune in New York, McAdoo tailored his appeal primarily to rural and small-town America. McAdoo could have disavowed his Klan support, but chose not to.

"Crown of Thorns and Cross of Fire" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 28, 1924

Here's Democratic partisan Daniel Fitzpatrick's woeful response to the party's unwillingness to denounce the Klan.

"A Danger Signal" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1924

Even a rock-ribbed Republican like John McCutcheon responded more in sorrow than in glee to the Democrats' feuding. Curiously, his Uncle Sam's despair at religious issues being brought into American politics makes no mention of the fact that significant opposition to Governor Smith was because he was Roman Catholic.

Incidentally, the Republicans' convention earlier in the month also had the opportunity to put a plank in their party platform condemning the Klan, but never brought it to a vote.

"The Battle of the Century" by Tom Foley in Minneapolis Star, June 28, 1924

Given that fights over the Democratic Party platform were so protracted and that none of their presidential candidates had enough support to win the nomination, balloting for the Democratic presidential nomination was put off until the second week of the convention.

The fellow in the foreground of Tom Foley's cartoon, George "Tex" Rickard, was the guy who built Madison Square Garden and was the foremost boxing promoter of his day.

"The 'Bean' Ball" by Albert T. Reid in Rutland (VT) Herald, June 26, 1924

Albert Reid overstates McAdoo's support in this cartoon; he didn't have a simple majority of delegates, let alone the required two thirds majority. When balloting for the presidential nomination began on June 30, McAdoo won 39.4% of the votes on the first ballot to Smith's 22%, with seventeen other candidates receiving at least one vote. After fourteen more inconclusive ballots, McAdoo still had only 43.6% of the votes to Smith's 27.8%

Remaining candidates, none receiving more than 5.6% of the votes, refused to withdraw, strategizing that neither McAdoo nor Smith could possibly hit the 66.67% threshold.

"Not So Docile As the Elephant" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 28, 1924

So it looks like we'll have to check back in with the Democrats in July.