National Party Conventions, 1831-2004

Here is a newly updated version of the resource that provides your patrons with focused, detailed, and wide-ranging information on national party conventions. Since the first convention was held in 1831, national conventions have been a key step in the U.S. electoral process. Understanding their history and evolving structures is essential to understanding how presidential leaders are chosen in the United States. National Party Conventions presents this information with clarity that will appeal to those new to the topic and comprehensiveness that will satisfy the research needs of experienced scholars and professionals.

National Party Conventions presents the complete history of U.S. nominating conventions, including discussions of pre-convention politics, descriptions of the convention system, and detailed information on specific conventions and political parties through 2004. The heart of the book is the individual summaries, in chronological order, of every U.S. national convention.

A wide variety of information is provided for each convention, including important excerpts from party platforms, key convention ballots for presidential nominees, and significant convention votes on rules and delegate disputes. Additional chapters cover pre-convention history and presidential primaries with a biographical directory of party nominees, profiles of political parties, and a comprehensive list of party nominees. This is a valuable and affordable library resource for public, academic, and high school libraries.