Republican Philadelphia

Republican Conventions in Philadelphia

by Ron Avery, exclusively for this website

When the Republican Party held its presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in July 2000 it was renewing strong, old historic bonds.

Philadelphia Republicans Boise Penrose and Hugh Scott

While most large American cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were run by Democrats — New York City's Tammany Hall organization being the most infamous — Philadelphia was a solid bastion of Republican strength from the 1870s to 1952. Only one Democrat and one independent were elected mayor during those 80 years.

GOP politicians from Philadelphia, including U.S. senators Boise Penrose and Hugh Scott, exercised considerable clout on the national scene.

While the Democratic Party chose Philadelphia only three times for national conventions in 1936, 1948. and 2016, Philadelphia has hosted the GOP convention six times, including the very first one in 1856

Click on any of the links below for more details of that year's GOP convention.