GOP SF '64 - Button

The 1964 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States took place in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, on July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had only been one (1956) national Republican convention on the West Coast. Many believed that a convention at San Francisco indicated the rising power of the Republican party in the west. The Convention was a tension-filled contest. Barry Goldwater's conservatives were openly clashing with Nelson Rockefeller's moderates. Goldwater was regarded as the "conservatives' leading spokesman" and was not popular with moderates and liberals of the Republican party. When Rockefeller attempted to deliver a speech, he was booed by the conservative delegates, who regarded him as a member of the "eastern liberal establishment." Despite the infighting, Goldwater was easily nominated. He chose William E. Miller, a Congressman from New York, as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, he declared communism as a "principal disturber of the peace in the world today" and said, "I would remind you that extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Some people, including those within his own campaign staff, believed this weakened Goldwater's chances, as he effectively severed ties with the moderates and liberals of the Republican Party. He faced Democratic incumbent Lyndon Johnson who won 61.1% of the popular vote, the highest won by a candidate since 1820. It was the sixth-most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes; fifth-most in popular vote. No candidate for president since has equalled or surpassed Johnson's 1964 percentage margin of the popular vote. Repro pub domain.