Vintage Chicago Tribune: ‘The whole world is watching’ to the ‘Macarena’ — the city’s political convention past

Kori Rumore, Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune
·3 min read

We’re one year away from Chicago hosting the next Democratic National Convention — 28 years after it was last here and 56 years after the unforgettable 1968 DNC.

It’s the 26th time the city has been tapped to host politicians from around the United States as they vote for their party’s leadership. No other place has hosted nearly as many, with the runner-up, Baltimore, claiming 10, followed by Philadelphia, with 9.

But why does Chicago consistently attract lawmakers and their major gatherings? For the answer, you have to take a trip back to 1860.

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How Chicago became the go-to city for political conventions

Tribune editor Joseph Medill’s insistence on going full-bore for the presidency in the run-up to the 1860 election established Chicago as the go-to town for political conventions.

Chicago’s history with hosting Democratic and Republican conventions

Between 1860 and 1996, the city hosted 25 Republican and Democratic conventions.

Add to that total the founding of the Prohibition Party at an 1869 convention in Chicago’s Farwell Hall. Plus Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party, founded in 1912 as a breakaway from the Republican Party that also met in Chicago that same year.

The whole world was watching: How the Tribune reported the 1968 Democratic convention

It was a rare moment of civility in a week of bloody battles — between the police, rebels with various causes and unlucky bystanders — that gave Chicago a long-lasting black eye.

President Bill Clinton pledges ‘bridge to future’ to end 1996 Democratic convention

“The last time the Democrats were here, the city erupted in riots that tarnished Chicago’s reputation and made Mayor Richard J. Daley a symbol of everything that was wrong with big-city politics in America,” the Tribune reported ahead of the convention. “This time, the legendary mayor’s son runs the show, and Richard M. Daley is widely recognized as the epitome of the modern American urban leader-praised for staying out of the political fray while being a hard-nosed city manager.”

Unlike the tumultuous 1968 convention, nothing happened to interfere with the Democrats’ gathering this time, either inside or outside the convention hall. Promising to build a bridge into the 21st Century on a foundation of middle-class hopes and dreams, Bill Clinton accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Aug. 29, 1996.

April 11, 2023: Chicago selected as site of the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Chicago, which last hosted the convention in 1996, was selected over Atlanta and New York to host the anticipated renomination of President Joe Biden. Though the choice was announced by the Democratic National Committee, the selection rested with Biden.

The president, in a statement, called Chicago “a great choice” for the convention as the DNC cited a Midwestern “blue wall” of states — Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota — as crucial to Biden’s 2020 victory and to Democratic midterm victories last year.

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