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May 21

First Democratic National Convention Held (1832)


On May 21, 1832, the first Democratic National Convention (DNC) of the Democratic Party was held in Baltimore, Maryland. In particular, the first DNC was held from May 21 to May 23 of 1832 to choose the Vice Presidential candidate for the incumbent President Andrew Jackson.

Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic Party in 1792 on the ideas presented in the Bill of Rights. In 1789, the Party was officially named the Democratic-Republican Party and the party for the "common man." In 1800, U.S. voters elected Jefferson as the first Democratic President of the United States.

During the early 1800s, the Party nominated its presidents through caucuses (i.e. political meetings). However, over time, the caucuses began to deteriorate because they failed to find consensus on how and who to nominate for president and vice-president. Then, state legislatures and state conventions took over the job of caucuses and began nominating candidates.

Around this time, some members of the Party brought up the idea of a national convention to nominate candidates for president and vice-president. In 1831, President Andrew Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet (i.e. his closest non-elected advisors) carried out a plan to create the first Democratic National Convention for the Party.

On May 21, 1832, the Democratic Party held the first Democratic National Convention and nominated Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, as the Vice Presidential candidate to run with Jackson.

Since 1832, a Democratic National Convention has been held by the Democratic Party every four years. Delegates from the fifty U.S. states and the U.S. territories, such as the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, attend the Convention and vote for the Party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The Convention also acts as a method to adopt a party platform and unify the party before the general election.

The Republican Party also holds a very similar national convention prior to the general election every four years.