1972 Republican National Convention

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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