S8 Ep1120: The 1920 Democratic Convention and the Ohio Connection Guest: David Pietrusza Meeting in San Francisco, the Democrats faced a grueling nomination process dictated by the "two-thirds rule," which required 44 ballots to select James M. Cox. The convention w

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 12 July 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

The 1920 Democratic Convention and the Ohio Connection Guest: David Pietrusza Meeting in San Francisco, the Democrats faced a grueling nomination process dictated by the "two-thirds rule," which required 44 ballots to select James M. Cox. The convention was overshadowed by a frail Woodrow Wilson, who still harbored secret hopes for a third term despite his inability to even put in a full day's work. The contest featured William Gibbs McAdoo, Wilson's"dry" son-in-law, and the "moderately wet" Cox. The atmosphere was further charged by the recent Palmer Raids and anarchist bombings. Al Smith emerged as the first viable Roman Catholic candidate, though his time would not come until years later. Ultimately, the party chose Franklin D. Roosevelt as the vice-presidential nominee. FDR was selected largely for his famous last name and to move him out of New York state politics, where he had been a troublesome figure for the Tammany Hall machine. (5)
1920

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0:33.6	This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor.
0:40.0	Here's John Bachelor.
0:42.3	Continuing with the historian and author David Petrucia, his new book, 1920, the year of the six presidents.
0:50.6	Wilson is frail forever in the White House, so he has ambitions for a third term.
0:58.0	Teddy Roosevelt is gone in January of 2019. Warren G. Harding has been nominated by the Republicans
1:04.6	in Chicago earlier in the summer of 1920. It is now July, early July, 1920, and the Democrats are meeting
1:15.0	in San Francisco, first time they've ever held a convention on the West Coast. The contest now
1:24.0	is between the party regulars. They have favorites. One is named Macadoo, who is the son-in-law of
1:32.6	Woodrow Wilson. He married Woodrow Wilson's daughter. He's a leading candidate. And another
1:38.6	candidate, a leading candidate, is the governor of Ohio, John, Jimmy Cox. But we need to attend to the setup for the
1:49.7	nomination process, which will take many ballots. And the setup includes, what do you do?
1:58.0	Because you owe everything to where you've been these last years with Wilson?
2:02.8	He was the first Democrat to win the presidency, excepting Grover Cleveland, who was the governor
2:10.3	of New York as well in the 1880s and 1890s, the first Democrat to win the White House since
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