champclark

1912 Democratic Convention Baltimore, MD June 25 to July 2, 1912 Nominated:Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey for President Nominated: Thomas R Marshall of Indiana for Vice President In 1912 there were three major contenders for the Democratic nomination, The three were House Speaker Champ Clark,, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Congressman Oscar W Underwood and Woodrow Wilson governor of New Jersey. 1912 was the first year that the democrats had primaries to select delegates for the convention. Wilson and Clark each won a number of primaries, and Clark arrived at the convention with the largest number of delegates pledged to him. When the convention opened Clark received the support of the Tammany Organization in New York. That support had the effect of turning Byran who had been largely neutral into an opponent of Clarke. On the first ballot however, Clark led with 440 1/4 votes to 324 for Wilson, 148 for Harmon 117 1/4 for Underwood and the rest scattered. Ballots continued all evening. On the ninth ballot the New York delegation changed its vote to support Clark giving him a majority of the votes. In past conventions that would have been enough to begin a bandwagon for Clark, quickly giving him the 2/3 needed. Instead this time the opposition held their ground. Now once again Byran took center stage in a speech castigating Clark for being in the pocket privilege class. This solidified the anti Clark forces which centered on Wilson. Balloting continued for two days however, until on the 46th ballot Wilson acheived 2/3 of the votes and became the nominiee. www.multied.com/elections/Conventions/1912DEM.html

Thanks for the info. Really learning some things here with these pictures.

James Beauchamp "Champ" Clark (1850 - 1921) Speaker of the House (1911 - 1919) Missouri Senator This picture may be from the Democratic Convention of 1912, where Clark was initially considered a frontrunner for the Presidential nomination. By the end, though, the nomination went to Woodrow Wilson.

Yes, Clark actually received a MAJORITY of the votes on the first ballot. But not 2/3, which is what was required to secure the nomination.

Thanks! We'll fix the title to include Clark's full name in the source data and reload the description. (Location is the House of Representatives chamber at the U.S. Capitol. Compare this photo from our main photo catalog, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b43283 )

The photo appears in the Bain Agency's 1911 photostream, and is dated (on the negative) May 15, 1911.

Wystan, Thanks for the more accurate date. We will add that to the record when we update.

Mr. Clark was politician, and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for President in 1912, losing to Woodrow Wilson. He was accused of being part of the corrupt machine politics of the age. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_Clark Clark actually had the majority of the votes for the nomination, but did not get 2/3, which opened the door to Wilson. He looks pretty confident here though. Below is article about wild and woolly 3-way election of 1912. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_of_1912

Champ Clark is shown here at Sea Girt, New Jersey, bitterly disappointed and humiliated after the 1912 Democratic National Convention, in which he lost the party's Presidential nomination to Woodrow Wilson. Sea Girt, a resort town, was the location of the New Jersey "summer White House." Wilson, who was still the Governor of New Jersey, received visitors there while he mapped out the fall campaign. Clark was part of a delegation of Congressmen who came to Sea Girt to congratulate Wilson. Other Bain/LOC photos show Woodrow Wilson seated in the rocking chair beside Clark: