1868 Republican National Convention

1868 Republican National Convention
1868 presidential election;
	Nominees ; Grant and Colfax
Convention
Date(s)	May 20–21, 1868
City	Chicago, Illinois
Venue	Crosby's Opera House
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois
Vice presidential nominee	Schuyler Colfax of Indiana
	‹ 1864 · 1872 ›

The 1868 Republican National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on May 20 to May 21, 1868. Ulysses S. Grant won the election and became the 18th president of the United States.

Commanding General of the U.S. Army Ulysses S. Grant was the unanimous choice of the Republican convention delegates for president. For vice president the delegates chose Speaker Schuyler Colfax, who was Grant's choice. In Grant's acceptance telegram, a letter to then President of the Republican National Convention Joseph R. Hawley, Grant said "Let us have peace",^[1] which captured the imagination of the American people.

Background

Republicans, led by their Radical faction, had scored decisive victories in the 1866 elections. If that trend continued in the 1867 elections, then the party's presidential nomination would likely go to a Radical like Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase or Senator Benjamin Wade. Chase had the support of important figures like Senator Charles Sumner and financier Jay Cooke. More moderate Republicans, such as Senator William P. Fessenden, Charles Francis Adams Jr., and The New York Times, had interpreted the 1866 elections not as a mandate for radicalism, but as a rejection of President Andrew Johnson's programs and personality; therefore, they were wary of a Radical nominee.

The Grant candidacy, though, took on momentum in the wake of the state elections in 1867. The electorate rejected the Radical Republican agenda by voting for Democratic control in the key Northern states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and by rejecting black manhood suffrage amendments in Kansas and Ohio. The election results bolstered the case of the moderate Republicans and seemed to close the door to a Radical nominee. Georges Clemenceau, a Paris Temps journalist who would later be the French premier, reported accurately that "The real victims of the victory of the Democrats are Mr. Wade and Mr. Chase."

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Commanding General
Ulysses S. Grant
of Illinois
Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase
of Ohio
(Speculated)
President pro tempore
Benjamin Wade
of Ohio
(Speculated)

As Republicans convened in Chicago in May 1868, Grant had no serious opposition for the nomination; he was nominated unanimously on the first ballot.

Presidential Balloting
Candidate	1st
Grant	648
Absent	2

Presidential Balloting / 2nd Day of Convention (May 21, 1868)

1st
Presidential Ballot

Vice presidential nomination

Vice presidential candidates

Speaker
Schuyler Colfax
of Indiana
President Pro Tempore
Benjamin Wade
of Ohio
Governor
Reuben Fenton
of New York
Senator
Henry Wilson
of Massachusetts
Former Governor
Andrew Curtin
of Pennsylvania
Former Vice President
Hannibal Hamlin
of Maine
Former Attorney General James Speed
of Kentucky
Senator
James Harlan
of Iowa
Former Senator
John Creswell
of Maryland
Senator
Samuel C. Pomeroy
of Kansas
Representative
William D. Kelley
of Pennsylvania
(Improper Nomination)

Colfax was selected for vice president on the fifth ballot.^[2] Colfax was popular among Republicans for his friendly character, party loyalty, and Radical views on Reconstruction.^[2] Wilson received a large amount of support from the southern delegations.^[3]

Vice Presidential Ballot
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th (Before Shifts)	5th (After Shifts)
Colfax	115	145	165	186	226	541
Wade	147	170	178	206	207	38
Fenton	126	144	139	144	139	69
Wilson	119	114	101	87	56	0
Curtin	51	45	40	0	0	0
Hamlin	28	30	25	25	20	0
Speed	22	0	0	0	0	0
Harlan	16	0	0	0	0	0
Creswell	14	0	0	0	0	0
Pomeroy	6	0	0	0	0	0
Kelley	4	0	0	0	0	0
Absent	2	2	2	2	2	2