The reassembled delegates had heard rumors that Harding was the choice of a cabal of senators . Although this was not true , delegates believed it , and sought a way out by voting for Harding . When balloting resumed on the morning of June 12 , Harding gained votes on each of the next four ballots , rising to 133 as the two front runners saw little change . Lodge then declared a three-hour recess , to the outrage of Daugherty , who raced to the podium , and confronted him , " You can not defeat this man this way ! The motion was not carried ! You can not defeat this man ! " Lodge and others used the break to try to stop the Harding momentum and make RNC Chairman Hays the nominee , a scheme Hays refused to have anything to do with . The ninth ballot , after some initial suspense , saw delegation after delegation break for Harding , who took the lead with 374 votes to 249 for Wood and 121 for Lowden ( Johnson had 83 ) . Lowden released his delegates to Harding , and the tenth ballot , held at 6 p.m. , was a mere formality , with Harding finishing with 672 votes to 156 for Wood . The nomination was made unanimous . The delegates , desperate to leave town before they incurred more hotel expenses , then proceeded to the vice presidential nomination . Harding wanted Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin , who was unwilling to run , but before Lenroot 's name could be withdrawn and another candidate decided on , an Oregon delegate proposed Governor Coolidge , which was met with a roar of approval from the delegates . Coolidge , popular for his role in breaking the Boston police strike of 1919 , was nominated for vice president , receiving two and a fraction votes more than Harding had . James Morgan wrote in '' The Boston Globe '' : " The delegates would not listen to remaining in Chicago over Sunday ... the President makers did not have a clean shirt . On such things , Rollo , turns the destiny of nations . " The Harding/Coolidge ticket was quickly backed by Republican newspapers , but those of other viewpoints expressed disappointment . The '' New York World '' found Harding the least-qualified candidate since James Buchanan , deeming the Ohio senator a " weak and mediocre " man who " never had an original idea . " The Hearst newspapers called Harding " the flag-bearer of a new Senatorial autocracy . " '' The New York Times '' described the Republican presidential candidate as " a very respectable Ohio politician of the second class . " The Democratic National Convention opened in San Francisco on June 28 , 1920 , under a shadow cast by Woodrow Wilson , who wished to be nominated for a third term . Delegates were convinced Wilson 's health would not permit him to serve , and looked elsewhere for a candidate . Former Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo was a major contender , but he was Wilson 's son-in-law , and refused to consider a nomination so long as the president wanted it . Many at the convention voted for McAdoo anyway , and a deadlock ensued with Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer . On the 44th ballot , the Democrats nominated Governor Cox for president , with his running mate Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt . As Cox was , when not in politics , a newspaper owner and editor , this placed two Ohio editors against each other for the presidency , and some complained there was no real political choice . Both Cox and Harding were economic conservatives , and were reluctant progressives at best
Democratic National Convention
1920 Democratic National Convention
Warren G. Harding