The
1972 National Convention of the
Republican Party of the
United States was held from August 21 to August 23, 1972 at the
Miami Beach Convention Center in
Miami Beach,
Florida. It nominated the
incumbents Richard M. Nixon of
California for
President and
Spiro T. Agnew of
Maryland for
Vice President. The convention was chaired by then-U.S. House Minority Leader and future Nixon successor
Gerald Ford of
Michigan. It was the fifth time Nixon had been nominated on the Republican ticket as either president or vice-president, matching Nixon with Franklin Roosevelt, who was also nominated on five tickets as a Democrat.
Site Selection
San Diego, California, had originally been selected as host city for the
convention. Columnist
Jack Anderson, however, discovered a memo written by Dita Beard, a
lobbyist for
International Telephone and Telegraph, suggesting the company pledge $400,000 toward the San Diego bid in return for the
U.S. Department of Justice settling its
antitrust case against ITT. Fearing
scandal, and citing labor and cost concerns, the GOP transferred the event—scarcely three months before it was to begin—to Miami Beach, which was also hosting the
1972 Democratic National Convention. It was the third and last time both the Republican and Democratic
national party conventions were held in the same city. The RNC did not return to San Diego until
1996.
Speeches
The convention set a new standard, as it was scripted as a media event to an...
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