1872 Republican National Convention
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1872 presidential election |
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Nominees
Grant and Wilson |
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| Convention | |
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| Date(s) | June 5–6, 1872 |
| City | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Venue | Academy of Music |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois |
| Vice Presidential nominee | Henry Wilson of Massachusetts |
The 1872 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5–6, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant was unanimously nominated for a second term by the convention's 752 delegates. Vice-President Schuyler Colfax was for some time considered a potential rival to Grant for the nomination, and had declared himself open to the prospect should Grant decide not to run for a second term, a stance that alienated him from both the President and his many supporters. Further damage resulted when a small movement within the Liberal Republican Party sought to enter his name for their presidential nomination. While neither amounted to more than speculation, it likely cost him his chances for renomination. Colfax narrowly missed the mark, garnering 321.5 delegates to Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson's 399.5, President Grant being among those many notables who remained on the sidelines as the balloting had taken place.
This was the first time in the history of the Republican party nominated a candidate unanimously. It wouldn't happen again for another 28 years. Grant's nomination was co-seconded by William Henry Grey of Arkansas, the first African-American to address a major U.S. political party national convention.
The platform, significantly so in the first section, boasted of the party's achievements since it had attained power in 1861:
The Republican party of the United States, assembled in National Convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its position upon the questions before the country:
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