speech was largely a call for compassion and inclusion, and touched on his upbringing by parents who were black immigrants from Jamaica. In endorsing Dole, Powell did not directly attack the Democratic ticket. Nancy Reagan The wife of former president Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, spoke at the convention, expressing gratitude. Stephen Fong On the closing night of the convention, Stephen Fong, then-president of the San Francisco chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, spoke at the dais as part of a series of speeches from "mainstreet Americans," but was not publicly identified as gay. Fong was the first openly gay speaker at a Republican National Convention. Pat Buchannan White House Communications Director and Political Commentator, Pat Buchanan, was denied to give a speech, though he still planned to attend it. Presidential nomination Senator John McCain placed Bob Dole's name in nomination Vice Presidential tally New York Governor George Pataki placed Jack Kemp's name into nomination, after which the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was nominated by voice vote. Impact On August 16, the day after the close convention, John Marelius of the San Diego Union-Tribune characterized different polls as showing conflicting indicators as to whether Dole was rising or declining in the polls. Ever since the 1996 election, which both the Democratic and Republican conventions featuring the spouses of the presidential nominees as speakers, it has become standard practice that both major parties feature the spouses of their presidential nominees as convention speakers. See also 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries History of the United States Republican Party List of Republican National Conventions U.S. presidential nomination convention 1996 Democratic National Convention 1996 Libertarian National Convention 1996 United States presidential election Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign References External links Bob Dole's nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project Republican Party platform of 1996 at The American Presidency Project PBS Online NewsHour: Convention: The GOP in San Diego, archive including transcripts, analysis, photographs, and streaming audio. CNN AllPolitics: 1996 Republican National Convention, archived fact, news, chat and speech transcripts, and links EmergencyNet News Service: GOP National Convention Security Plan, August 10, 1996 Video of Dole nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (via YouTube) Audio of Dole nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC Video of Kemp nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube) Audio of Kemp nomination acceptance speech for Vice President