- History & Culture
- Explainer
How political conventions went from provocative to predictable
For nearly a century, presidential candidates didn’t even attend national conventions, where nominations were often contentious and hashed out in backroom deals.
“To Lincoln: You are nominated.”
These five words, with little fanfare, were telegraphed in 1860 from the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, to Springfield, as Abraham Lincoln, former congressman and current lawyer, walked toward his law office there. A crowd surrounded Lincoln in the street, shaking his hand and congratulating him on his nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate for president of the United States. Lincoln later received official notice of his nomination by letter and accepted by one of his own.
For more than a century, nominating conventions were used not to crown a known frontrunner but for party bosses to gather and hash out who should actually run. Presumptive candidates didn’t accept their nominations at conventions, or
