The 1924 Democratic Convention

The Democratic Party had been a coalition party since the Civil War.  After the War, it consisted mainly of Northern Irish and other immigrant groups, including lots of Catholics and Jews, along with Southern Whites.  Of the approximately 3000 delegates attending the 1924 convention, only one was black, and he was an alternate.

In 1924 the prohibitionists were strong, and the Ku Klux Klan had a resurgence, affecting northern politics in states like Indiana.  The Republican Convention a few weeks earlier had rejected a resolution denouncing the Klan.  The Democrats came up with a resolution that would have said Democrats opposed “...any effort on the part of the Ku Klux Klan or any organization to interfere with the religious liberty or political freedom of any citizen, or to limit the civic rights of any citizen or body of citizens because of religion, birthplace or racial origin.”  That resolution failed by one vote.

The Democrats then passed one that said “We insist at all times upon obedience to the orderly processes of the law and deplore and condemn any effort to arouse religious or racial dissension.”  Definitely watered down, but I wonder if either resolution would have passed the recent Republican convention.  

The big fight was between William McAdoo Jr., a temperance supporter opposed to political machines.  The son-in-law of Woodrow Wilson, he enforced Wilson’s policy of segregating federal agencies.  His opponent was Al Smith, the Irish Catholic governor of New York who said his ancestors didn’t arrive on the Mayflower, but they got here as soon as they could.

The battle lasted weeks.  Every vote, and there were 103 of them, was in alphabetical order.  The first-time radio audience heard, “Alabama casts 24 votes for Oscar W.Underwood” so often it became a catch phrase.

In the meantime the Klan was celebrating at an estate in Long Branch, New Jersey, where on the 4th of July an American flag-waving Klansman on a horse led a parade of thousands of Klan members in robes.  One float featured a boy scout with a sign “We Want The Holy Bible In Our Schools.”

The delegates were tired, hot (no air conditioning), and deadlocked.  They finally came up with a colorless compromise candidate, John W. Davis of West Virginia, who lost overwhelmingly to Calvin Coolidge that November.

In 1928 the Democrats nominated Smith, but he was defeated by Herbert Hoover of the Great Depression fame.

Information for this article came in part from Dan Barry, “Divisions From a Century Ago Resonate Today,” New York Times, (July 6, 2024), pp. A 1, A 17.