S8 Ep1120: The 1920 Republican Convention in Chicago Guest: David Pietrusza The Republican Convention in Chicago was a sweltering "circus" where Warren G. Harding started with very low odds compared to favorites like Leonard Wood and Hiram Johnson. Harding initially
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 12 July 2026
⏱️ 6 minutes
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Summary
The 1920 Republican Convention in Chicago Guest: David Pietrusza The Republican Convention in Chicago was a sweltering "circus" where Warren G. Harding started with very low odds compared to favorites like Leonard Wood and Hiram Johnson. Harding initially ran for the presidency primarily to gain the "glamour" needed to protect his Senate seat in Ohio, doubting he could actually win the top spot. However, the leading candidates eventually reached a deadlock, hitting their "upper limits" and forcing the party to look for a compromise. Unlike the Democrats' more complex rules, the Republicans required only a simple majority for nomination. The final party platform was a masterclass in ambiguity, designed to satisfy both pro-League members like Taft and anti-League "irreconcilables." By saying very little of substance, the party managed to maintain a fragile unity, eventually selecting Harding as the candidate who could bridge the various factions of the GOP. (4)
1919
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| 0:35.1 | I'm John Batchel with David Petrucia. |
| 0:37.3 | His new book is 1920, the year of the six presidents. |
| 0:40.5 | The Republicans gather in Chicago, as they have many times before. A circus has just left town, |
| 0:46.7 | so you can imagine the flavor on the floor. It's very hot, even though it's June, very hot. |
| 0:53.6 | And it's roasting, even Alice Roosevelt, who is a woman |
| 0:57.9 | who's used to being in the kitchen with the heat, given her tongue, even she acknowledges |
| 1:03.0 | that it's so hot. The candidates are given odds, and David reproduces the odds. It's quite |
| 1:08.6 | fun. You can live through it. Hiram Johnson, the progressive from California, who's cranky, has even money. |
| 1:15.1 | Leonard Wood, the man who's been Army Chief of Staff, TR's friends, the only physician ever to become head of the Army. |
| 1:23.3 | A political actor certainly is given 7 to 5. |
| 1:26.5 | Frank Loden of Illinois is given eight to five. |
| 1:29.3 | Then Herbert Hoover has four to one odds, four to one odds to be the Republican nominee. |
| 1:34.7 | And you have to search and search and search. And all the way down here, you find Warren Harding. |
| 1:39.4 | So as they gather, Harding is successful in not acting as if he wants to be the nominee. Actually, David, |
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