Memorable moment : future Arkansas governor Ann Richards said he ' ' ' was born with a ` ` silver foot in his shoe '' DNC : Barack Obama was the last African American to deliver a keynote address in 2004 . RNC : In 1952 , Richard Nixon became the youngest Republican to take the VP nomination at 39 . John Bell was the last African American to keynote a Republican convention in 1884 . In 1992 , then - candidate Bill Clinton got a boost of 16 points after the DNC , going from 40 % to 56 % .
Memorable moment : future Arkansas governor Ann Richards said he ' ' ' was born with a ` ` silver foot in his shoe '' DNC : Barack Obama was the last African American to deliver a keynote address in 2004 . RNC : John Bell was the last African American to keynote a Republican convention in 1884 . In 1992 , then - candidate Bill Clinton got a boost of 16 points after the DNC , going from 40 % to 56 % .