The 1940 Republican National Convention

Every four years, held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the American public casts its vote for the office of President of the United States of America. Leading up to this all-important day we are inundated with numerous advertisements by potential candidates in the form of television commercials, the segment(s) that play before one’s YouTube video, and suggested pages Facebook recommends just to name a few. While the ultimate goal of these advertisements is to elect its endorsee to our country’s highest office, these candidates must first secure the nomination of their political party in its national convention. The nomination can be determined before the convention if a candidate has received the necessary number of delegates obtained in state primaries. In circumstances where the nomination is contested, however, a series of votes are held until a candidate comes out on top. One such instance of a contested national convention was the 1940 Republican National Convention held in Philadelphia, PA (which also happened to be the first televised national convention). Thanks to the Browne Popular Culture Library, items from its political collection will be featured to help tell the story of a rather interesting convention during a tumultuous instance in world history.