California Here We Come: Just Not Very Often

The two major parties have held their presidential conventions in California only six times.

Republican Conventions:

Year: 1956

City: San Francisco

Ticket: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon

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Year: 1964

City: San Francisco

Ticket: Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller

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Year: 1996

City: San Diego

Ticket: Bob Dole and Jack Kemp (to be selected tonight.)

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Democratic Conventions:

Year: 1920

City: San Francisco

Ticket: James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Year: 1960

City: Los Angeles

Ticket: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson

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Year: 1984

City: San Francisco

Ticket: Walter Mondale and Geraldine A. Ferraro

Talk About Suspense

It once took 36 ballots to select a Republican nominee. That was in 1880 in Chicago when James A. Garfield defeated the allies of Ulysses S. Grant, who were pushing for another run by the former president. It took 10 ballots for the GOP to select Warren G. Harding in 1920. And eight rounds to select Benjamin Harrison in 1888. But the last time it took the GOP more than one ballot to settle on its nominee was in 1948, when Thomas Dewey was chosen on the third roll-call. The last time Democrats went past the first ballot was in 1952, when they settled upon Adlai Stevenson on the third vote.