1984 Democratic National Convention

U.S. political event held in San Francisco, California Site selection for the 1984 Democratic National Convention 1984 Democratic National Convention Site selection for the 1984 Democratic National Convention September 2026 February 2026 October 2026 1984 1984 DNC logo.jpg 140px Democratic July 16–19, 1984 DP1984.png 128 Ferraro Oval Portrait.png 128 Nominees Mondale and Ferraro Moscone Center San Francisco, California Mario Cuomo Walter Mondale Minnesota Geraldine Ferraro New York 1 3,884 1,967 Walter Mondale (Minnesota): 2,191 (56.41%)Gary Hart (Colorado): 1,201 (30.92%)Jesse Jackson (Illinois): 466 (12.00%)Others: 27 (0.67%) 1980 1988 thumb|The Moscone Center was the site of the 1984 Democratic National Convention The 1984 Democratic National Convention was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select candidates for the 1984 United States presidential election. Former Vice President Walter Mondale was nominated for president and Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York was nominated for vice president. Ferraro became the first woman to be nominated by either major party for the presidency or vice presidency. In another first, the 1984 Democratic Convention was chaired by the governor of Kentucky, Martha Layne Collins.Ferraro: My Story 1986 Ferraro Geraldine Bantam New York 0-553-05110-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=TonKOFU8LyMC The Democratic National Committee Chairman at the time, Charles T. Manatt, led the convention. Site selection Site selection for the 1984 Democratic National Convention + Finalist bid cities City Venue Previous major party conventions hosted by city Chicago, Illinois McCormick PlaceLocin Mitchell Hardy Thomas Local Democratic split may hurt convention hopes https://www.newspapers.com/image/388011957 Newspapers.com Chicago Tribune 3 February 2022 en April 15, 1983 Democratic: 1864, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1932, 1940, 1944, 1952, 1956, 1968Republican: 1860, 1868, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1952, 1960 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena and Cobo HallDetroit to bid for Dems' convention today https://www.newspapers.com/image/97536204 Newspapers.com Detroit Free Press en subscription February 16, 1983 Republican: 1980 New York City, New York Madison Square GardenSawislak Arnold San Francisco https://www.newspapers.com/image/250099028 Newspapers.com Muncie Evening Press United Press International 3 February 2022 en subscription April 21, 1983 Democratic: 1868, 1924, 1976, 1980 San Francisco, California Moscone CenterSawislak Arnold Democrats chose San Francisco today as the site of... https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/04/21/Democrats-chose-San-Fransisco-today-as-the-site-of/6377419749200/ UPI 3 February 2022 en April 21, 1983 Democratic: 1920Republican: 1956,** 1964** Washington, D.C. Washington Convention Center **Conventions held in Daly City, California, a municipality adjacent to San Francisco + Preliminary bid cities (non-finalist)Smith Jack Z. Houston considered for Democrats' '84 convention Fort Worth Star-Telegram en March 19, 1982: Smith Jack Z. Houston considered for Democrats' '84 convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/635479456 subscription Newspapers.com Fort Worth Star-Telegram 15 April 2023 en 1 March 19, 1982 Smith Jack Z. Houston being considered for site of 1984 convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/635479469 subscription Newspapers.com Fort Worth Star-Telegram 15 April 2023 en 2 March 19, 1982 City Venue Previous major party conventions hosted by city Houston, Texas Astrodome Democratic: 1928 Kansas City, Missouri Democratic: 1900Republican: 1928, 1976 Miami Beach, Florida Democratic: 1972Republican: 1968, 1972 New Orleans, Louisiana Louisiana Superdome Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Democratic: 1936, 1948Republican: 1856, 1872, 1900, 1940, 1948Whig: 1848 Seattle, Washington Kingdome Logistics The convention was the first to utilize the rule changes recommended by the Hunt Commission in response to the protracted 1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries between Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy, including the use of superdelegates.National Party Conventions: 1831-1996. Internet Archive. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly. 1997. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-1-56802-280-2. The San Francisco Hilton served as the convention's headquarters hotel.Gay activist's remark riles convention panel https://www.newspapers.com/image/461075997 Newspapers.com San Francisco Examiner 3 February 2022 en subscription July 11, 1984 It had previously been the headquarters hotel of the 1964 Republican National Convention. Nancy Pelosi served as chair of the convention's host committee.Michelson Herb Democrats left their hearts in SF but not too much of their money https://www.newspapers.com/image/622557814 subscription Newspapers.com The Sacramento Bee en August 5, 1984 The convention cost in excess of $20 million to stage. $9 million was provided by the City of San Francisco's government itself. Events of the Convention thumb|300px|Convention hall during Ferraro's vice presidential nomination acceptance speech Walter Mondale was nominated for president and Geraldine Ferraro was nominated for vice president. New York Governor Mario Cuomo gave a well-received keynote speech. Mondale's major rivals for the presidential nomination, Senator Gary Hart and Rev. Jesse Jackson, also gave speeches. Jackson's speech referred to the nation as a "quilt" with places for "[t]he white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the business person, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay, and the disabled".House Ernest R. Jesse in 1984: Whites Wept, Blacks Frowned https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-24-bk-10473-story.html 2 January 2018 Los Angeles Times 24 July 1988 It was the first time anyone mentioned lesbians and gays in a national convention address.Reid Joy-Ann Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide 8 September 2015 William Morrow 50 B00FJ3A98G Amazon Kindle Jackson also attempted to move the party's platform farther to the left at the convention, but without much success. He did succeed in one instance, concerning affirmative action.The Jackson Factor http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11993033 The Economist 1984-07-21 2008-08-28 "AIDS poster boy" Bobbi Campbell gave a speech at the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights, dying of AIDS complications a month later.GLBT Historical Society July 15, 1984 Bobbi Campbell speech (1984) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9uceO78lHs https://web.archive.org/web/20131017175330/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9uceO78lHs&gl=US&hl=en 2013-10-17 dead July 19, 2015 YouTube Voting The following candidates had their names placed in nomination President Before the convention had convened, Mondale was widely regarded as having secured the prerequisite delegate support to clinch the nomination.Niekerken Bill Van SF's 1984 Democratic convention: Historic, but not smooth https://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/SF-s-1984-Democratic-convention-Historic-but-8476660.php#photo-10626789 SFChronicle.com 31 July 2020 1 August 2016 However, he only attained this amount of delegate support with the inclusion of superdelegates that supported his candidacy. His number of pledged delegates (those bound to him and awarded through primaries) alone did not give him enough of a lead to win the nomination without superdelegate support. His number of pledged delegates heading into the convention was 40 shy of the 1,967 needed to win the nomination.Bomboy Scott A primer about recent convention brawls over delegates https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/a-primer-about-recent-convention-brawls-over-delegates/ National Constitution Center 31 July 2020 8 June 2016Phil Hirschkorn, "America's Last Great Convention: Mondale, Jackson & Hart Dish To Salon About Wild 1984 DNC", Salon. (February 15, 2015) Jesse Jackson had unsuccessfully called for the suspension of the party's electoral rules to give him a number of delegates closer to the 20% average share of the vote he garnered during the primaries. The system tended to punish shallow showings as yielding no delegates at all, hence Jackson's smaller delegate count than would be expected (12%). Reo Kirkland, a member of the Alabama Senate and Alabama delegation, was bound to Hart, but voted for Martha Kirkland, his mother and a probate judge in Escambia County, Florida.Kirkland 1984 Keron Kerr, an uncommitted delegate from Maine and secretary of the Maine Democratic Party, voted for U.S. Senator Joe Biden. She first considered voting for him after seeing him speak at the 1983 Maine Democratic state convention and decided to support him after his speech at the DNC. Kerr later served as a state coordinator for Biden's 1988 presidential campaign.October 26, 2020 Collins Steve In 1984, a Mainer cast the first-ever vote for Joe Biden for president Sun Journal https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/10/26/in-1984-a-mainer-cast-the-first-ever-vote-for-joe-biden-for-president/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20240217055431/https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/10/26/in-1984-a-mainer-cast-the-first-ever-vote-for-joe-biden-for-president/ February 17, 2024 The candidates for U.S. president received the following numbers of delegates: Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 1984Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 16, 1984CandidateVotesPercentageWalter Mondale 2,191 56.41%Gary Hart 1,201 30.92%Jesse Jackson 466 12.00%Thomas Eagleton 18 0.46%George McGovern 4 0.10%John Glenn 2 0.05%Joe Biden 1 0.03%Martha Kirkland 1 0.03% Totals 3,884 100.00% Vice president For Vice President of the United States, Mondale had a pick between Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco (future five-term United States Senator from California) and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York; he chose Congresswoman Ferraro to be his vice presidential running mate, which established her as the first woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States from a major American political party. Until 2024, this was the most recent time that neither a sitting nor former United States Senator was nominated for vice president by the Democratic Party. See also 1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries Rosalind Wiener Wyman, chair and chief executive officer of the convention 1983 Libertarian National Convention 1984 Republican National Convention 1984 United States presidential election History of the United States Democratic Party List of Democratic National Conventions United States presidential nominating convention Walter Mondale 1984 presidential campaign References Works cited July 19, 1984 Who Is Martha Kirkland? United Press International https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/19/Who-Is-Martha-Kirkland/1203459057600/ live https://archive.today/20250331170155/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/19/Who-Is-Martha-Kirkland/1203459057600/ March 31, 2025 Kirkland 1984 External links Democratic Party Platform of 1984 at The American Presidency Project Complete video, text and audio of Mario Cuomo's Keynote Address at Democratic National Convention Mondale Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project Video of Mondale nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube) Audio of Mondale nomination acceptance speech for President at DNCFebruary 2021 InternetArchiveBot yes Video of Ferraro nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube) Transcript and Audio of Ferraro nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC 1980New York, New York Democratic National Conventions 1988Atlanta, Georgia Category:Democratic National Conventions Democratic Democratic National Convention, 1984 Category:Conventions in San Francisco Category:California Democratic Party Category:United States presidential nominating conventions in California Category:July 1984 in the United States Category:Political events in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Geraldine Ferraro Category:George McGovern Category:Walter Mondale Category:Jesse Jackson Category:John Glenn Category:Joe Biden Category:1984 in women's history