1984 Democratic National Convention
1984 presidential election | |
![]() ![]() Nominees Mondale and Ferraro | |
Convention | |
---|---|
Date(s) | July 16–19, 1984 |
City | San Francisco, California |
Venue | Moscone Center |
Keynote speaker | Mario Cuomo |
Candidates | |
Presidential nominee | Walter Mondale of Minnesota |
Vice Presidential nominee | Geraldine Ferraro of New York |
The 1984 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select candidates for the 1984 United States presidential election. Former Vice President Walter Mondale was nominated for president and Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York was nominated for vice president. Ferraro became the first woman to be nominated by either major party for the presidency or vice presidency. In another first, the 1984 Democratic Convention was chaired by the female governor of Kentucky, Martha Layne Collins.[1] The Democratic National Committee Chairman at the time, Charles T. Manatt, led the convention.
Events of the Convention[edit]
Walter Mondale was nominated for President and Geraldine Ferraro was nominated for Vice President.
New York Governor Mario Cuomo gave a well-received keynote speech. Mondale's major rivals for the presidential nomination, Senator Gary Hart and Rev. Jesse Jackson, also gave speeches.
Jackson's speech referred to the nation as a "quilt" with places for "[t]he white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the business person, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay, and the disabled".[2] It was the first time anyone mentioned lesbians and gays in a national convention address.[3] Jackson also attempted to move the party's platform farther to the left at the Convention, but without much success. He did succeed in one instance, concerning affirmative action.[4]
"AIDS poster boy" Bobbi Campbell gave a speech at the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights, dying of AIDS complications a month later.[5]
Voting[edit]
The following candidates had their names placed in nomination
Former Vice President Walter Mondale from Minnesota
Senator Gary Hart of Colorado
Reverend Jesse Jackson of Illinois
President[edit]
The candidates for U.S. president earned the following numbers of delegates:[6]
Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 1984 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
Walter Mondale | 2,191 | (56.41%) |
Gary Hart | 1,200 | (30.92%) |
Jesse Jackson | 465 | (12.00%) |
Thomas Eagleton | 18 | (0.46%) |
George McGovern | 4 | (0.10%) |
John Glenn | 2 | (0.05%) |
Joe Biden | 1 | (0.03%) |
Martha Kirkland | 1 | (0.03%) |
Totals | 3,882 | 100.00% |
Jesse Jackson unsuccessfully called for the suspension of the party's electoral rules to give him a number of delegates closer to the 20% average share of the vote he garnered during the primaries. The system tended to punish shallow showings as yielding no delegates at all, hence Jackson's smaller delegate count than would be expected (12%).[4]
Vice President[edit]
Geraldine Ferraro was nominated by acclamation on a voice vote. She became the first woman to receive a major party nomination in the US.
See also[edit]
- 1984 Democratic Presidential Primaries
- Rosalind Wiener Wyman, chair and chief executive officer of the convention
- 1983 Libertarian National Convention
- 1984 Republican National Convention
- 1984 United States presidential election
- History of the United States Democratic Party
- List of Democratic National Conventions
- U.S. presidential nomination convention
References[edit]
- ^ Ferraro, Geraldine (1986). Ferraro: My Story. New York: Bantam. ISBN 0-553-05110-5.
- ^ House, Ernest R. (24 July 1988). "Jesse in 1984: Whites Wept, Blacks Frowned". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ Reid, Joy-Ann (8 September 2015). Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide (Amazon Kindle ed.). William Morrow. p. 50. ASIN B00FJ3A98G.
- ^ a b "The Jackson Factor". The Economist. 1984-07-21. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ GLBT Historical Society (July 15, 1984). Bobbi Campbell speech (1984). YouTube. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
- ^ Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 16, 1984
External links[edit]
- Democratic Party Platform of 1984 at The American Presidency Project
- Complete video, text and audio of Mario Cuomo's Keynote Address at Democratic National Convention
- Mondale Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
- Video of Mondale nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube)
- Audio of Mondale nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC
- Video of Ferraro nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube)
- Transcript and Audio of Ferraro nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC
Preceded by 1980 New York, New York |
Democratic National Conventions | Succeeded by 1988 Atlanta, Georgia |
- Democratic National Conventions
- 1984 United States presidential election
- 1984 in San Francisco
- Conventions in San Francisco
- Democratic Party (United States) events in California
- Political conventions in California
- July 1984 events in the United States
- 1984 conferences
- Political events in the San Francisco Bay Area